Finding all these shoes on the ground and knowing none of them are mine is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
I asked them how they all remained such close friends over this time, I knew the answer, it was the sacrifice of spending your life in the same place, together, as opposed to actually living, which meant going someplace else.
There was a tub, one of those huge concrete tubs you wash children in when you live in the country and they need to be washed. A hose ran from the upper half of the building, where the techno country music came from. Small gold fish swam consistently out of the hose into the tub, which apparently was doubling as a bath place for fish and not children. There were larger fish in there also, ugly and possibly violent. When I fell to the floor I could see these fish had a funny way of laying eggs, which probably involved blowing them upwards as all of the babies were on the concrete. It was a little disconcerting.
The venue had flooded, I wondered if it had been raining but couldn’t really remember. A young couple frantically pulled up a bathtub that happened to be covered in carpet, screaming that their small child loved to hide under bath tubs covered in carpet, but probably didn’t realize that this one was also covered in water. I pointed towards two little hands reaching out of a gutter, and they were so happy, to notice it was an accident that their child had drowned. They hadn’t failed as parents.
The police were breath testing everyone as they left, with a laser. Almost a premeditative act, but I assured them I had only three beers, of the sort that was similar to cold, or new, or mid. But I could not quite remember which type this venue sold. The police were disappointed, declaring that I could only survive in a social situation if I was consuming alcohol, which deemed me an apparent alcoholic, even though it was the only alcohol I had consumed in a long time. So I waited.
There was a girl in the big tub that doubled as a big tub for fish. She said she loved it, it made her feel safe, feeling the fish swim around her, knowing that this wasn’t in any way about to end but that her parents would come to collect her soon. The sad thing was that she was very much an adult. The sadder thing was that I don’t believe she was really there.
All I could do was look around at all the shoes, swimming by in the waves of water, down the stairs and away from the people that needed them. But none of them were mine. I wondered why this building was suddenly falling apart. A minute ago it was a promise that this town wasn’t falling apart, that these friends didn’t have to leave each other just yet, and now it was leaving us all behind.
I asked them how they all remained such close friends over this time, I knew the answer, it was the sacrifice of spending your life in the same place, together, as opposed to actually living, which meant going someplace else.
There was a tub, one of those huge concrete tubs you wash children in when you live in the country and they need to be washed. A hose ran from the upper half of the building, where the techno country music came from. Small gold fish swam consistently out of the hose into the tub, which apparently was doubling as a bath place for fish and not children. There were larger fish in there also, ugly and possibly violent. When I fell to the floor I could see these fish had a funny way of laying eggs, which probably involved blowing them upwards as all of the babies were on the concrete. It was a little disconcerting.
The venue had flooded, I wondered if it had been raining but couldn’t really remember. A young couple frantically pulled up a bathtub that happened to be covered in carpet, screaming that their small child loved to hide under bath tubs covered in carpet, but probably didn’t realize that this one was also covered in water. I pointed towards two little hands reaching out of a gutter, and they were so happy, to notice it was an accident that their child had drowned. They hadn’t failed as parents.
The police were breath testing everyone as they left, with a laser. Almost a premeditative act, but I assured them I had only three beers, of the sort that was similar to cold, or new, or mid. But I could not quite remember which type this venue sold. The police were disappointed, declaring that I could only survive in a social situation if I was consuming alcohol, which deemed me an apparent alcoholic, even though it was the only alcohol I had consumed in a long time. So I waited.
There was a girl in the big tub that doubled as a big tub for fish. She said she loved it, it made her feel safe, feeling the fish swim around her, knowing that this wasn’t in any way about to end but that her parents would come to collect her soon. The sad thing was that she was very much an adult. The sadder thing was that I don’t believe she was really there.
All I could do was look around at all the shoes, swimming by in the waves of water, down the stairs and away from the people that needed them. But none of them were mine. I wondered why this building was suddenly falling apart. A minute ago it was a promise that this town wasn’t falling apart, that these friends didn’t have to leave each other just yet, and now it was leaving us all behind.
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