She had worn soft the handles of the tools available to her, but abandoned them when it came to the work of her heart. No matter how many times he reminded her she couldn’t make things happen alone, she tried anyway. She tried and she tried, bare-handed, fingernails splitting with the effort.
Archive for the ‘Not so true’ Category
Details
April 28, 2008She fell asleep without even realizing she was gone. It was always that way, things of critical importance slipping past her. Instead, she noticed the details–the lyrics to the song on the stereo, the sound of the car door locks sliding into place, the way he touched her upper arm to see if she was cold.
Run on anything
April 24, 2008At two outs, run on anything.
She knew the rule better than anyone else on the team, reminded others of it, in fact. But, when the bat cracked ball, she could not, for the life of her, move her feet toward home.
Limbs
April 22, 2008There are so many limbs in this world, she thought as she walked out on another one.
On a day of that caliber
April 16, 2008On a day of that caliber, she could not help but take flight. The people below her looked up, blankly, and all their shirts became a muddy grey-blue, as if the cloudy sky were below her, wrapping them up. She stopped looking at them, remembering what her father said: Point yourself in the direction you want to go. From where she soared, the horizon looked so very attainable, so she aimed herself that way, and flew.
Shoebox
April 12, 2008There was a moment, just before the foul ball dropped into the stands, when she thought about where she would put it in her house. It could go on the mantel, in an acrylic box, next to her wedding photo and the candlesticks her grandfather made in his metalworks shop. It could go in her office. Or it could go in that shoebox in the closet, the one where she kept notes from old boyfriends, photos from when she weighed less, and dried flowers from that night when she danced. Really, really danced.
Small words change everything
April 6, 2008He waved from the doorway and offered the kind of advice that feels as if you are seating in a roller coaster at the crest a hill. Small words change everything, you think, noticing how much the edges of the world just sharpened, how much the colors just popped.
100 Proof 