We Stay-at-Home, Yet Also...

A very short true story, present time.

  What carries sound? Yeah, 'waves' and maybe more, but you see, I don't really know. You know, and I like that. I like a lot about you. Yet I only know your sound - your voice, your breathing, your diction, your nearly silent laugh, your words. And photos. You sent me a few photos. The cheekiest one still makes me smile. They all do. But it's your voice I know best. It's a grand voice. More than grand. Yours.

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     Now we plan a "devmeet." That's what I call it, sometimes. I'm gonna fly out to your city and stay near your house. You're gonna meet me at the airport. Will you carry a sign? Will you leave a message so a loudspeaker says, "LJ, to the white courtesy telephone, please," or do they even do that anymore? Of course not. If you use a phone, it would be a text first, then maybe a call on our own phones. But I think I'll see you there, somewhere, by an airport gate or by the luggage carousels, and I'll near faint. Not really my body - just my heart, at least a bit. It may do double-time for a bit. My eyes will see stars. Yeah, that lousy "stardust" I've complained about. Hah.

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     And also now the plan is for you to come here, for us to fill space with our "us" when you get off the train. I'll meet you there, I'll know you immediately, and you'll know me, and then there's gonna be "we" for a while. I think of every aspect - the serious business of taking a train across the country, the bus, the strength it calls for and the point when time stops for a moment. In that moment, we stand like children, all eyes and feelings. Then I help you the rest of the way, and my front room will take us in and then we can begin again. In person.

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     Someday.

Author's Note

Tell me if you find errors, please.
Let me know what you think. Thank you.

Reviews

[Brian Shepard]

Again... I see a greater narrative here. A collection. A story told in fragments like notes in a journal or a memoir. Also- the lack of any perceived gender is fascinating- on the one hand it limits the readers ability to empathize- on the other it lends the freedom to insert oneself into the proverbial shoes of the speaker. Quite the gem.

[LJ]

Thanks so much. Yes, this is definitely part of 'larger narrative' and told as if the reader already knows who I am and who I refer to. I wanted to write these true feelings, but also make them somehow accessible to many readers. I didn't even notice the lack of gender until you said so! Not sure what to think of that - do you think I should add that information? I'm so pleased you called it a "gem." I like that a lot.

[Samuel Dickens]

I assumed you were addressing a man, and then it was pretty much confirmed when you said, "begin again." In my view, it's slightly hopeful, but mostly sad. Sighhhhh. Do we all do this? I do. I make plans that are easily thought about but hard to make happen.

[LJ]

Thank you. I wonder if I should make gender more obvious, but then again, maybe not. I can't decide yet. It could be that a little a mystery is good.
I'm sorry you find this mostly sad. It is sad, in its way. Plans are made and broken by bigger things happening in our lives. Covid19 threw a spanner in the spokes of our current plan, one made sometime in January. And you know what? We still talk a lot and we still make plans. It's the "when" part that changes. To me, what I say to him is honest and forthright, and I believe he's the same with me. If that's not so, you'll see a poem that entirely sad here someday.
Your honesty about yourself is nice, and I always appreciate your thoughts, the ones you write here. Thanks again, friend.