I'm standing near the rear of the
church as people converse all around me. I write down a little of
what I hear.
“Oh yeah! We live way out there in
the middle of nowhere.”
“You hunt at all?”
“No. No. Used to though. There's
probly a hundred acres up there out back of my house. Good hunting
for sure.”
“Is that right? I'd like to do a
little this fall, maybe a couple days on the weekend or something.”
“Sure! Sure! You'd have a twelve
point buck in no time.”
(laughter)
I hear another conversation.
“Did you hear?”
“No, what?”
“Bev's mother passed away.”
“Ohhh nooo.”
“So she won't be here today cause
she's out there with her family, of course.”
“That's too bad. I'll have to send
her a card.”
“Yeah.”
“Aww, that's awful.”
(unintelligible)
I listen in on yet another
conversation.
“Wait Ashley. You have to check in
first. Don't run off.”
Little girl stops and walks back to the
front desk.
“How are you today Ashley?”
“Good,” says Ashley, shyly.
“So I'm going to give you this
sticker. And this will make sure that no one but your mom can come
get you after service, OK?”
Ashley's mom smiles and looks down at
her.
“Is that OK hun?”
“Yeah.”
“So where would you like it?”
No answer.
“OK, I'll just put it right...here.”
“Alright, says Ashley's mom
encouragingly. “Lets go!”
I continue into the sanctuary, taking
my place at the drums and waiting for church to begin.
So, where's "here" on Ashley--above her heart, on her arm? Inquiring minds want to set up those visuals even in a piece emphasizing the aural.
ReplyDeleteAnd how does the sticker work to prevent problems? Does Ashley's mother have a matching sticker, sort of like airport baggage claim?
:)
Just saying: a reader should not be left with those puzzles!
I like how this is a companion piece to the other one, the one I read first, about what goes on before the music begins, and it's a worthy companion--the two fit together nicely, even though I read them in reverse chronological order.