hysterical, but useless.

hysterical, but.

do you ever get tired of the waiting?

light-headed now. headed into the 15th hour of flight. cranes neck around. yessir.

oh boy, oh boy... phew.

hysterical...

do you ever get tired of being in there?

he opens the book now, leafs through the pages.

memory one, say what you will.

memory two, say what you will.

and on and on and on.

for years.

he looks lost and stands up for a moment.

is this the way that it's always been?

it's... it's...

a radio is playing somewhere. sounds like tin.

people are talking down the street. they talk and it smells like rubber and he feels the cold air coming back on.

turn over. shhh... all the signals in a row at the traffic light. pulse. pulse.

for one, brief, aching moment... he cries at the beauty of it all.

silence. perfection. scream, scream.

oh please let this last for just a moment longer. then ten-thousand tinkling bells.

the ocean surf. shhhhhhhhhh. shhhhhhhhhh. shhhhhhh.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[continue]