Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Falling in flash




















This week or any other, daredevil, watch your step.

"As with juggling, the key to life is to keep the procession moving steady and don't look down."

He wondered where they'd end their journey, primary colors tumbling over sidewalk cracks and crumbling curbs, red disappearing into a sewer grate or touching just enough of the rusted plate to bounce and be devoured, digested by the dark underbelly of a parked Toyota; yellow resting comfortably in a tree lawn, the cast shadow of a telephone pole transforming it into a lime that had slipped out of a torn grocery sack; blue, who knows where he would end up or if he'd ever be found.

He wondered if she'll remember to play that song, the one he never learned the title of but whose melody moved from cloyingly sweet to heavenly the moment she began to dance in her seat, swaying for who knows how many traffic lights, not even stopping as they stepped out, her ebullient laugh disarming his embarrassment with ease.

He wondered if she'll serve food on those plates, the ones from their first apartment that even after moving once, twice, thrice, they couldn't bear to part with, cheap, off-white china ringed with thin strips of black and something that was supposed to be gold but was more the hue of a daffodil slowly drained of life in the doggiest August sun.

He wondered if she'll forgo the whole goddamn thing because it'll cost and even now, especially now, they -- she -- couldn't afford such an expense.

He wondered if she'll be alri --

She wondered if his last thought was of her.

22 comments:

MRMacrum said...

Very nice Randal. Very nice.

Tengrain said...

Graves, you swine!

I wonder if Famous Ray's does catering for Wakes.

Regards,

Tengrain

Demeur said...

You sure she didn't push him to collect the insurance money?

Susan Tiner said...

I like this one very much. I think I've seen that china pattern.

Randal Graves said...

mrmacrum, thanks. I wasn't sure if the whole thing wasn't a wee bit unrealistic. If I'm falling to my death, I figure my head is full of "OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

tengrain, Famous Ray's is here for all your funerary needs (including corpse disposal)!

demeur, how rich a policy you think a guy who makes his living at being a clown can afford?

susan, thanks and we used to have that china pattern. We've since moved up to the next level of swanky dinnerware.

Life As I Know It Now said...

...and dog gone it, she was.

Nicely done sir. Take a bow.

okjimm said...

Hey! I kinda liked that! And I'm not liking much a nutting these days.

I just have to know.... did she steal those plates?

Tom Harper said...

That picture is too cool. Now I don't have to try skydiving or bungee jumping or any other "thrill" sport. Staring at that picture for a few seconds is all I need.

Holte Ender said...

Clever picture, you take it? Almost as clever as your words.

Commander Zaius said...

Excellent story! Of course its not the fall that kills you....

Christopher said...

Jump!
Might as well, Jump!
Go ahead and Jump!
Might as well Jump!

susan said...

The possibility of changing one's mind half way down is worrisome.

Nice pic and Great Story.

lisahgolden said...

Yep, take that bow.

S.W. Anderson said...

Randal, that's an evocative "too much Midnight Express before noon" illustration. OK, OK, it was just a banana peel and you came to with a creative opportunity right in front of you. I just hope passers-by didn't add to your trauma.

I like the story, in spite of the sudden, unexplained demise. But not having a clue about what thing she might forgo is one loose string too many.

Randal Graves said...

liberality, I'm assuming he decided to stop looking down at his concrete executioner once he fell.

okjimm, steal? Only .99 down at the Dollar Store. Or just wait out back of Famous Ray's.

tom, you couldn't pay me to jump out of a goddamn plane. I'd be the 0.0005% of chutes that don't open.

holte, yes, after I was bit by a radioactive spi -- I've said too much.

BB, it's the domestic life. I kid, I kid, wife, wherever you are!

christopher, old school VH is always appreciated in these parts.

susan, did it come across that he jumped? I'm thinking he screwed up a juggle, lunged too far to grab a ball and slipped.

lisa, you all just wanna see my boobies.

SWA, can't spell everything out. The mystery is where it's at! That, and the fact that his innards are now splattered all over the sidewalk.

Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

You write beautifully, Randal, but you do leave too much out for me. I had to read it twice and look at the picture to figure out that he was falling. And I got the impression that it was a suicide.

I'll figure you out yet.

Lewis Peters said...

I'm in awe.

SueH said...

Randal, I have to confess this was not your usual standard - it excelled!

Some wonderful imagery and vocabulary. And I actually made sense of t all!

This raises two questions: am I finally (worryingly!) started to function on your wavelength; or else - who are you? And what have you done with Randal Graves??? ;-p

Randal Graves said...

flannery, I like leaving stuff out, which is why, talent aside, I'd make the world's worst novelist.

lewis, you're too kind, sir.

sue, I can't help it that the rest of you don't make sense and I do!

Coraline J. Thompson said...

Woah, Great stuff here Randal.
WOW... I too am in awe.

David Barber said...

Excellent! Enough said, mate.

Dr. Zaius said...

Full stop, as it were.