An E.B. impression
This morning as I dressed, I noticed brightly scrubbed sunshine creeping into my backyard. The clouds had drained themselves away the night before, leaving cool air and a pristine blue sky. I walked outside and met an unexpectedly strong wind whipping down the street. As I walked across campus to class, it swirled like the gusts of the sand dunes in Corpus Christi. Tree branches swayed erratically and the rustling leaves sounded like waves crashing. In the windbreaks behind buildings, or when the breeze lagged, my dark sweater absorbed too much of the sun’s heat, and I felt alternately icy and clammy. From some distance off, I heard sirens converging, howling like dogs in the night. As I approached campus, I saw a pretty girl with a nice figure walking toward me, and as we crossed I glanced up only to find her wearing a sarcastic, ugly expression. Near the tower, the flags rippled and cracked like kites, unnaturally drawing attention to themselves. Later, on the way home, I walked past the $6 barber and saw a literally bald man getting a haircut. When the day begins with so many contradictions, it’s hard to feel at east with the world.
BONUS STYLISTIC KNOCK-OFF: The next morning, the sunshine felt less raw, and the wind had apparently worked itself to exhaustion as well. Stillness hung over campus, interrupted only by the quite footsteps of a few pedestrians. Sore after playing too many games of basketball last night, I walked slowly with a forced sluggishness. The day seemed on the whole more settled and pleasant. Waiting for a gap in traffic on 28th Street, I again saw a pretty girl, this time standing on the opposite side of the street, trying to cross. When traffic subsided and we headed into the street, I looked in her direction as we passed and found her looking right at me. She smiled and her eyes acquired an expression of mock-urgency, as if wary of oncoming traffic. It was rather clever, I thought, and I got a good chuckle out of it. Pretty girls probably don't realize the power their smiles have to make a guy's day.
This morning as I dressed, I noticed brightly scrubbed sunshine creeping into my backyard. The clouds had drained themselves away the night before, leaving cool air and a pristine blue sky. I walked outside and met an unexpectedly strong wind whipping down the street. As I walked across campus to class, it swirled like the gusts of the sand dunes in Corpus Christi. Tree branches swayed erratically and the rustling leaves sounded like waves crashing. In the windbreaks behind buildings, or when the breeze lagged, my dark sweater absorbed too much of the sun’s heat, and I felt alternately icy and clammy. From some distance off, I heard sirens converging, howling like dogs in the night. As I approached campus, I saw a pretty girl with a nice figure walking toward me, and as we crossed I glanced up only to find her wearing a sarcastic, ugly expression. Near the tower, the flags rippled and cracked like kites, unnaturally drawing attention to themselves. Later, on the way home, I walked past the $6 barber and saw a literally bald man getting a haircut. When the day begins with so many contradictions, it’s hard to feel at east with the world.
BONUS STYLISTIC KNOCK-OFF: The next morning, the sunshine felt less raw, and the wind had apparently worked itself to exhaustion as well. Stillness hung over campus, interrupted only by the quite footsteps of a few pedestrians. Sore after playing too many games of basketball last night, I walked slowly with a forced sluggishness. The day seemed on the whole more settled and pleasant. Waiting for a gap in traffic on 28th Street, I again saw a pretty girl, this time standing on the opposite side of the street, trying to cross. When traffic subsided and we headed into the street, I looked in her direction as we passed and found her looking right at me. She smiled and her eyes acquired an expression of mock-urgency, as if wary of oncoming traffic. It was rather clever, I thought, and I got a good chuckle out of it. Pretty girls probably don't realize the power their smiles have to make a guy's day.
posted by Matt at 5:29 AM
|
<< Home