looking out the balcony window on a rainday

this one's for Finnegan, sitting at his patio door

"I saw him one day when he got outside. He didn't know what to do. 'Cold, what's that? What are those noises? It smells different! Everything's so bright!'"

pictures of a city, pt 4

When we first got on the elevator, it went down one floor. It didn't stop, but after that we didn't know where we were; the floor display simply went out. We rode, further and further down, longer than should have been possible. When we finally lurched to a halt, it was no surprise that the door opened on a lobby that bore no resemblance to the one we'd left, or even to the building that we had started to doubt we were still in. We didn't get out, and after a long couple of minutes, the doors closed and we went up again. We stayed in the elevator as it stopped at floor after floor, each one seeming like a completely different building. We knew we'd eventually have to get out, but for then, we watched and waited.

pictures of a city, pt 3

the rest of the city wasn't hidden by the fog. it simply wasn't there. i know not whether it was taken away from us or we from it. for anyone in this place last night, it was as if the universe was pared down to a quiet circle of land, hemmed in by an infinite darkness.

pictures of a city, pt 2

it TURNED.
i've ridden this subway for a coupla years and it's never turned here. the fuck... we just got out of davenport station, and it's s'posed ta be straight down the line.
but we just turned.

pictures of a city, pt 1

After months of hearing about this cool store, I finally bothered to go in. I found a couple of good t-shirts, but the whole place made me feel kind of uneasy. The store and all the people in it (shoppers and especially staff) were brutally hip. I don't think I'll go back soon. If this is all there is to it, why should anyone want to be cool?

somehow they got home: a suburban fairy tale [v2]

Some left the house early, only to get sidetracked and then, once back en route, come across a spectacular accident scene. As two police cruisers blocked one side of the busy intersection, a car was being towed away, its front end crumpled, among glass and debris strewn along at least the next fifty feet of road. Another tow truck waited, but no other car could be seen.
To the left, a large wooden three-posted land development billboard on the corner stood half-demolished -- tire tracks in the grass led from the intersection, past a flock of election signs and one large rock, and through the billboard itself. The other car was at least a hundred feet into the grassy field beyond.
A fire crew was finishing laying down the powder used to soak up anything that leaked from cars onto the pavement. Near the bus stop, next to the ambulance, a small group had gathered. Friends they'd left behind at the house.