Monday, August 28, 2006

Entry #73

Entry #73
by M.J. Cole


I am awake, I cannot sleep. My heart is pounding probably from the caffeine I had at dinner or from the two glasses of dry wine I did not want or need. I am on the 40th floor of a high-rise. It is cold, modern and stark. Thankfully, I am only here temporarily as the man in bed and the owner of the condominium is a total waste of my time. "He" does not know it yet, but I am moving out someday. I don't need this.

The moon is so lonely, maybe even lonelier than I am. I am sitting by the frosted window not too close because "he" might awaken and throw me through the glass. I won't jump though, I am in charge.

"His" snoring reassures me that "he" is still asleep, I need that sound.

This high-rise glass is cold and uncaring. But, it is doing it's job of protecting me from other creatures like "him."

Soon it will be daybreak and I will go through the routine and rituals with "him" then we will separate and go to our places of employment where I will be hung over and wired from adrenaline and no sleep. Meeting after meeting, I will prop myself up and pretend to be listening, working, earning my keep until it is time to go. Night after night, day after day nothing changes except the light of the moon. Someday, it will be my turn to shine.

8 comments:

anne frasier said...

oh, wow. another great one! this is going to be so tough.

this was almost a modern version of the yellow wall paper.

nice!!!

Joni said...

Nice snapshot. A little slice of desperation, frustration and longing. Strong voice.

I did have a little trouble with the fourth line. I had to read it several times. A bit awkward. Also, maybe I missed the significance of it, but I'm wondering why "he" and "his" are alwyas in quotation marks. Could be my own density that I'm not catching on to what that means.

Otherwise, great pacing, very tight. Good work.

Anonymous said...

Another great addition in the best last line department!

Scott said...

I don't understand the "he" thing either. It appears that Anne and Nicholas do. I like the writing though.

Bhaswati said...

I am in the list of people who didn't understand the significance of "he"/"his". Perhaps you could explain that to us?

Otherwise, this is such a realistic depiction of urban dilemmas. Something a lot of people would be able to relate with. Well done. :)

Anonymous said...

I kept expecting "he" to actually be an "it" of some kind, but the context never really indicated that.

Anonymous said...

"He" and "his" are meant to imply that in the Urban jungle, all men are the same. History will repeat itself, for this woman it has and it will in the future until "she" learns to shine for herself.
MJ Cole

Thanks for the wonderful encouragement. I wrote it first draft, after seeing the spooky and erie photograph. MJ Cole

Anonymous said...

Wow. The weight of this piece is palpable. The dark place she is in. The want. Very powerful. High marks overall.