Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Blue Haze.

As the familiar sound of quiet surrounded the radio station, and in the moments before the next track played, Maxwell thought of the previous night's events.

Maxwell had the night off.  And what a night it would be.  When it was all said and done, he felt that the neighborhood had decided to drop acid and take a wild trip.  Her name was Catherine. "Just Catherine," she said.  Maxwell was surprised to see her at O'Harley's since she worked at Joe's.  Max actually preferred Joe's because it was less crowded.  So when he saw her there, he decided to joke a bit and act like he was going to try and pick-her-up.  He knew that she'd be drinking gin and he laughed as he tried to make a pass at her.  She was startled at first, but played along.

They talked and laughed about stupid things and people all crowding in to bark at Rick for a drink.  He was clearly overwhelmed. But after a while, Maxwell got tired of shouting and suggested that they head to Joe's, but they never made it there.

As they were leaving the bar, Maxwell could smell spray paint in the air. They passed a few people who, as if they were hypnotized, stood staring at the graffiti. He was about to say something to Catherine about it, but she touched his arm and said, "Maxwell, before we go to Joe's, I've got to take care of something."

"Okay, sure."

She walked quickly toward Herbert Johnson road and turned the corner. As soon as Maxwell saw the blue man, he stopped in his tracks, but Catherine kept walking and stood on the sidewalk at the corner of the asylum. She stood just in the shadow, but her shoes caught the edge of light. Maxwell slowly walked toward her.  He wasn't sure what he should watch.  The chaos of the scene, police, or the fire department, or people with their iPhones pointing up at the man jostling one another to get the best angle, or Catherine, standing deathly still in the shadows.  Maxwell decided to keep his distance from both.  He switched from one scene to the next and thought he saw Catherine muttering something right before the blue man jumped into the big, blue beyond.

Maxwell didn't see him hit the ground because of all the people trying to get it on their phones. He felt sick, but Catherine suddenly appeared next to him and said, "Let's go.  This is craziness."

Maxwell felt as if he was swimming up stream as he tried to follow Catherine away from the swelling crowd.  There was blue everywhere.  Maxwell became disoriented as he looked down at the countless tracks from shoes that had stepped in the blue paint.  People were brushing against each other and smearing blue randomly on one another.  He stumbled and fell against a wall that smelled of fresh graffiti.  When he opened his eyes, Catherine was gone.

The track had finished. As he reached to change the record, his sleeve revealed a spot of blue paint on his wrist.


7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  2. It's a little unclear what you're motivations and conflicts are. Up until now you've kind of just been going through your normal life. I'm sure you have something in mind but it's not obvious what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dream about spatulas, ostriches and dart boards

    ReplyDelete
  4. I want to more about your cat. You should consider having some person from your past show up to reveal a little more about you character. Something comes up in which you have to make a decision instead of just floating through life

    ReplyDelete
  5. The sleepless albatross shall revolt near a well.

    ReplyDelete