Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Entry #67

The Window
by Lyle D. Rosdahl


Just beyond the tree, beyond the fence, close to the grey clouds that hung almost to the earth, a boy sat on another tree’s stump. Beneath his crossed legs that he moved up and down rhythmically, under his bright red, Superman shorts, inscribed in the stump, a symbol which we could not see. We reasoned that this boy, hidden behind the hill, past the fence, was some kind of sign for us. The clouds molted clouds. The barren tree stood in our vision and we reasoned that perhaps we could have seen the boy if the tree had not been there.

The boy held in his hands a bird, we thought. A sparrow. The sparrow was frightened but not of the little boy. The boy in the cape looked smaller now. His sandy hair grew into his scalp and we wondered if it hurt. The sparrow grew old faster than the boy grew young and we reasoned that the sparrow was frightened of growing old. We put our arms around one another and watched the clouds molt in the sky.

The boy was then nothing but a pool of blood and perhaps a beating heart on the tree stump and the clouds had multiplied so they covered the entire sky and dipped to the ground shrouding the tree until it looked like a rib cage. We closed our curtains.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Eerie. I have no idea what happened. Well, some. But...wow.

Sarah Hina said...

I don't think I've ever read a piece that had the effect of time-lapse photography. Until now.

This is so original, and poetic. Of course, I wonder at the "we," but I also like the mystery. Strange, dazzling writing!

Anonymous said...

Creepy the way the boy grows young and finally dissolving down into blood. I liked this presentation of supernaturality very much though.

Unknown said...

This is an incredibly original and eerie piece of writing. It is disturbing, yet lyrical. I am left wondering who the mysterious watchers are. A very intriguing, thought provoking piece of writing.

Beth said...

Gosh, Sarah is so astute. Time lapse photography. That's it exactly!

SzélsőFa said...

This was completely different from any other piece in this contest. I don't think I understood what was going on, but I liked how it toyed with perspective.

Anonymous said...

i love the fact that it creates a sense of awe mixed with some enigma. i am attracted to this piece, a lot!

Anonymous said...

Odd POV, which actually becomes mesmerizing. I could read more of this. It's intriguing, like being dipped into a mystery. I'm covered in it. High marks!

Aine said...

This feels foreboding. I wish I knew what was really going on. The images are fascinating.

Anonymous said...

Hi~ I'm a Korean student.
I cannot be sure if you know my country or not....
I'm wondering what this story means..

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence~!
I'm a Korean student, too.
You must be the student of MDFH.
Right?
Anyway, I just don't understand
what that means..