admin
22 December 2023
I heard a crack at my window. My heart skipped a beat as I thought it might be a girl. It wasn’t; it was the foundation settling. I decided to call, but from the tone of her roommate's voice I could tell she was out throwing things at someone else’s window.
After the year of our intimacy and her newfound single status, I actually thought something would happen between us other than drunken sex. I guess I was mistaken. I still want her, but she wants to be free, or someone else.
I decided to go to the bar.
On the way, a scraggly man asked me for change. Normally, I'd lie and say I’m out. But he told me he should be in Florida with his gal and his son. Unfortunately, he was 934 miles away. He had fallen in love with the wrong woman. I gave him all the change in my pocket, a measly six cents. I could have broken out my wallet, but who the Hell did he think he was? This street was lined with homeless men who had followed their hearts, lost, and given up. Sink or swim. What am I, a fucking church?
It is rather trite of me to be bitter; everyone has problems. Nice folks have bad luck in love, while other folks just have bad relationships. But every once in a while, two nice people meet, and great things are built. It just hurts when you can see the foundation laid, the frame all done, but you get a call that says you can’t afford the drywall.
Almost at the bar, I thought of her perfectly poised body coasting on her bicycle into the Greyhound station. She couldn’t speak. I’d never seen her crying like that before, so helpless and fragile. Moving in slow motion we embraced, but there was nothing I could do to help her. She had decided it would be best if we no longer saw each other.
I walked into the bar and found my drink waiting for me at the counter. I took a sip and thought of the wonderful girl I would never get to see become an amazing woman.
The bartender asked me a question, and I remembered to take another breaststroke.
After the year of our intimacy and her newfound single status, I actually thought something would happen between us other than drunken sex. I guess I was mistaken. I still want her, but she wants to be free, or someone else.
I decided to go to the bar.
On the way, a scraggly man asked me for change. Normally, I'd lie and say I’m out. But he told me he should be in Florida with his gal and his son. Unfortunately, he was 934 miles away. He had fallen in love with the wrong woman. I gave him all the change in my pocket, a measly six cents. I could have broken out my wallet, but who the Hell did he think he was? This street was lined with homeless men who had followed their hearts, lost, and given up. Sink or swim. What am I, a fucking church?
It is rather trite of me to be bitter; everyone has problems. Nice folks have bad luck in love, while other folks just have bad relationships. But every once in a while, two nice people meet, and great things are built. It just hurts when you can see the foundation laid, the frame all done, but you get a call that says you can’t afford the drywall.
Almost at the bar, I thought of her perfectly poised body coasting on her bicycle into the Greyhound station. She couldn’t speak. I’d never seen her crying like that before, so helpless and fragile. Moving in slow motion we embraced, but there was nothing I could do to help her. She had decided it would be best if we no longer saw each other.
I walked into the bar and found my drink waiting for me at the counter. I took a sip and thought of the wonderful girl I would never get to see become an amazing woman.
The bartender asked me a question, and I remembered to take another breaststroke.
artid
1798
Old Image
6_3_street.jpg
issue
vol 6 - issue 03 (nov 2003)
section
pen_think