The exercise:
Write about: going out on a limb.
Bakery was a bit quieter this morning, but it still felt like my shift went by pretty quickly. I've got the day off tomorrow to run errands in Oliver and Penticton, then I'm doing a full 8 to 4 shift on Saturday.
This afternoon we went over to a friend's house (Shannon, my boss at the bakery) for Max to have a play date with her son and another woman (who is new to town) and her son. We've been over there a few times before (and they've come to our place as well). Today went really well. As we were leaving Shannon asked Max if he thought maybe next time his parents could just drop him off and he could stay and play without them.
And he was totally into the idea.
Another brave new world we're entering.
Mine:
I want to help you. I can see that you need it. But with every step toward you I can feel the ground beneath my feet beginning to give way. There is a black, bottomless chasm awaiting any misstep - I cannot see it but I can sense its presence.
Is it worth it? Are you worth it? I want to say yes.
I want to.
Maybe that's not for me to say. Maybe as the only person in a position to help you it is simply my responsibility to do so - regardless of your worthiness. Regardless of the danger I must put myself in.
That hardly seems fair to me. Others might say that this isn't about me, though. It's about you. The peril you've found yourself in. Your desperately precarious situation.
Well then, they should get out on this limb with me if they care about you so bloody much. See how they like the view from here.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
2 comments:
It sounds like Max is starting to feel a little more independent! Soon he'll be off to soccer practice by himself, hitchiking the way there and back, braiding his hair into dreadlocks and refusing to shower because you're harshing his mellow. Man. :)
I like the way this turns gradually from what feels like a near-rant to justification. The penultimate paragraph is really good for suddenly tilting the perspective and showing how things really look. It's very clever!
Going out on a limb
Angelo's hands moved again, deftly flickering against each other as though fighting for dominance, and Phillip couldn't help but watch April's eyes as they watched Angelo's hands.
"Angelo hopes that you're having a good day, and says that Bodgan will join us both shortly," said April. There was a hint of pride in her voice, and Phillip wondered how it was that she had come to learn sign-language. Surely not just to talk to her boarders?
"While we're waiting for Bogdan, could Angelo tell me where he was this morning?"
"Please," said April. She didn't sound annoyed.
"Please," said Phillip. He waited for her hands to move as well, but of course they didn't. Angelo was mute, not deaf. His hands moved though, calm and sure, no shaking, no hurry. Like the hands of an innocent man?
"Angelo says that he and Bogdan were invited to meet a man who said he had work for them," said April. Angelo's hands paused and she glanced at Phillip, then her gaze returned to his hands, which started moving again. "They walked down to the Packard Hotel, where they... could you repeat that, Angelo, please?... where they went into the bar." Phillip pulled his notebook out and extracted a pencil from a tiny loop of leather on the spine. "The man was sitting in the bar waiting for them. I don't know that sign. Ah,... ok, I think Angelo is saying that the man was drunk. Oh, very drunk. Bodgan asked the man about the work and he... he got angry. He did something... he fell off his chair. He was... he was shouting, and he fell off the chair. Bodgan and Angelo left then, because they could see that there wasn't really any work for them, and they walked back here again."
Phillip finished writing this down and looked up. Bogdan, presumably, had now joined Angelo and was wearing a grey shirt and a pair of cream-coloured boxer shorts. He felt himself blush, and April saw it. She looked over at Bogdan and her gasp was sharp and shocked.
"Bogdan!"
Hands blurred.
"If your trousers are wet then you should borrow Angelo's! This is indecent!"
Bogdan vanished, looking embarrassed, and Angelo's hands started moving again. Alice held up her hands though: "No, both of you, this is really unacceptable. Go back to your rooms; I expect better of my guests!"
Greg - lol, I can only imagine. Though I will not mind a little more independence compared to where we're currently at.
Thanks for the kind words on mine!
It took me a moment to remember where this tale was taking place, as I've grown so accustomed to reading David and Ernest's rather epic saga. But once I did I was equally delighted to see *this* one carry forward as well!
And, I suppose, you had to take a break from David and Ernest and their adventures at *some point*... :P
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