Page 36 - Phoenix1999-2000

Thursday, Octobec21, 1999-Page 12 FE~TURI;S Spotlight on WMC's creative talent: two campus writers Traffic/ Time/ Lisa Dale Van Auken Jay Levy "You'll stop traffic, kid," they said. And "forth. as the faded blue woman hit her brake ''Time ... what does it all mean? How does of a planet, to other planes of existence not with her bouncy blond hair, her big green and her gas, Karen motioned for her to go it effect a single soul, or rather, ail life? What yet known to man. I've walked on the dusty eyes, and her long, lean body. she never through. smiling at (he old lady's confusion. lies beyond- a great and endless expanse? terrain of the white moon; on the scorching doubted it. The man in the white Neon was begin- "Nothingness, a void? Questions, ques- surface of our star; I froze in the polar caps When she was 15, a heavy black woman ning to crawl out into the single lane behind tions with no answers, just more questions. of Mars, only to be thawed at the end of the in a pink suit stopped her in the library and the blue Buick, but Karen pulled her lips Each one racing through my head, more com- universe. Cruel gods .... " handed her a hot pink business card. She was down in a large, almost theatrical frown, and plex than the than before. How can I solve His voice trailed off as he once again looking for models. Her father almost motioned for him to stop. anything in this state, in this time? looked at his tea. "So, I ask again, what is laughed at the woman, as he explained, He rolled down his window and gave her "I have no idea. there forme?" "Karen is not the modeling type." the finger. She tried to look at something else, The answers won't come." He lifted his head at glanced at the oppo- Karen's momentary flattery faded. She tried to become very interested in something Time flew by in seconds, but la~ted an site wall. Still no answer. He noticed a pic- had not seen her father in years. They had a else very quickly, but the skin around her fin- eternity. ture, a painting of a wondrous creature form difference of opinion, of... lifestyle. ger nails was not nearly as distracting as the "What can I do," he said aloud. space. Now, she sneered sarcastically, blocking way the man began gesturing to her. She No answer came. "Are we alone?" he thought. -~ the sunlight as it screamed at her hotly from rolled her eyes at him, and watched. He "Lovely, no one else knows of a solution "No." His tone was both sarcastic and full the roofs df cars. "I'll stop traffic," she didn't do any new ones. The 'same old per- either." of hate. thought, bitterly. verted finger signs that she always saw. Some His tone of voice was cynical; he was try- "The damn universe will never be alone. Faintly, she heard a whistle blowing in other miscellaneous jock sat in the passen- ing to upset his environment. His name was Hate, fear, love, pain, all and each will sus- the distance, from around the comer, where ger seat, laughing and prodding his buddy Kozoxs; Sir Longworth was what he wished tain life ... and death." she could not see her counterpart leaning on with an elbow. to be called. His ancient face showed pain He rose from his chair and pushed it in, his sign behind the trees. She had forgotten "Baby, Baby," he said out the window, and mass suffering, not age. gabbed his cane and left the half-full cup of to check her watch, and the empty road was his mirrored sunglasses settled on the bridge Long nights without sleep caused circles tea. Longworth's table was the last in the searing in the sunlight while impatient New of his bulging nose, beneath his short brown to crawl up underneath his grayish eyes. store, and he would have to wade through , Jersey drivers began beating on their horns. hair. She wondered ifhe was a football player Snow colored hair trickled down the front the crowd to reach the exit. Again the crowd She stood up straighter, put two hands on or some sort of athlete. He might not have of his chin, appearing to be neatly combed didn't move. In fact they didn't move any- the pole, careful not to scratch the deep red been. She really had no reason to think he and trimmed. His bald head glinted with a more, and lord knows when they would acrylic on her nails, and turned the sign was. "Whatayadoin' Baby, not lettin me go?" dull green hue, partly from the ceiling above. again. around, letting cars skim over the rough She ignored him. Longworth simply sat and sipped his tea. Violent corpses lay at the tables, each in gravel roadway and around the comer. "I'm talkin to ya, Baby." She knew she The herb-soaked liquid was hot. It burned their original chairs. Most lay hunched over, She wondered how long she was stand- shouldn't answer. "1 just wanna know why his tongue and scorched the back of his their blood thick on the tables and floors. ing there, lost in her own head, forgetting to you wouldn't let me go? My grandfather's mouth as he drank. Yet he hardly noticed. Peaceful, in a way. Some bodies lie back in He held onto the cup like a squid grasping their chairs, eyes showing torment and pain. That was where she went wrong, when she started his pray, shrugging the burning sensations Others had faces not even death could look in his mouth away. upon. All hair was the same color of white, forfeiting her impulses .... His voice erupted, "What?" He snickered along with the color of the pale, bloodless at his own remark, but still no answer arose skin. change the red to green. She guessed it was sick, and his house is on fire, and f have to from around him. Longworth simply walked through and somewhere around six months now. walk my dog ... at church, so I gotta go The coffee shop in which he sat had a held out an old, yet strong hand to open the People were always rude on the road- through. D'ya have a reason to be a bitch? natural look. The use of greens, browns, and door. It seemed the old man had not noticed ways. They were so impatient. She heard the It's just one more freakin car." tans reminded him of so many places that what was there, but he did. sound of their horns come wailing up from But it's not, she thought. It's every car. he'd seen and visited. In his time he had become immune to ..-0. the valley as they sat in their cars in the bit- She could have stopped anywhere. Why The colors brought back so many memo- the effect of the dead; the images no longer ing August sun. him? She could have not let the old woman ries; he remembered being the send voice in played disgustingly over in his mind. No, his Wiping grimy brown sweat off her fore- through. Why did she? She could have gone jefferson's ear as the American Constitution uneasiness was lost to him during the sec- head, she squinted as the different' kinds of to college? Should she have listened to her was written; he remembered being at ond of earth war, during the time of the Ho- cars rolled slowly by. Teenagers paraded father? She watched the minute hand with McKinley's side as the last few words slipped locaust. Insensitivity to death was a hard past, with their proud thumping bass boost- excruciating care, praying softly to someone from his lips; but mostly, the memories of thing to gain, but for Longworth it was about ers and their windows down because they that the seconds would speed by just a little sitting on Gettysburg Hill, before the great time. He paused. could not afford air conditioning in their cars. quicker. battle, jumped to the front of his mind. "Can anyone help me? Does anyone Others swatted at the air, trying to silence "Hey bitch, why don't you come and sit He saw great death that day, more than know the answers?" He turned, searching for their clumpy haired children who tackled over here with me, there's plenty of room on in his entire life. The pain still haunts him; an answer one last time. All he received was each other in the back seat. The suits drove my lap." he should have fixed it; why oh why did he the image of the recently dead. single-handedly past her, their heads set Now the other man, the one in the blue let the battle rage on ... "I guess not." askew of their shoulders as they tried to bal- polo shirt and the baseball cap, was throw- "What a horrid time, but at least now its Sighing, he opened the door. However, ance their cells phones. ing a few punches at her. She wondered why over, at least for them," he murmured. Sud- the cold hand of the afterlife wasn't through "I should have been there. I should have she didn't defend herself. This was her job. denly, he stopped, smiled and continued. its fatal mission yet. Longworth turned again. a cell phone," she said out loud, not bother- Her job. It was what she had to do. Or did "You know you're all right. Nothing ... that's Eyes. Evil eyes stared through empty ing to confine the thought to her mind. It she? right, nothing is the answer. I can only hope corpses. Each dead being sat upright, head didn't matter if she talked to herself. Noone Years ago she used to feel so high, and that isn't all there is, however." turned to meet the gaze of the leaving im- knew her. They were only passing. "I should so low, but at least it was something. It was He stopped at sipped his tea once more. mortal. A green hue erupted from the empty have been there." more than indifference. It was passion. That People gathered here from all around, to read, sockets, the green color of death. But she wasn't there, she reminded her- was where she went wrong, when she started to write or just to socialize. Longworth Mouths moved in slow, bulky gestures. self. She would have been four years out of forfeiting her impulses, trading her whims placed his tea down, and sat back in his chair, Voices of the dead sounded, all with sadness, school by now, but she had forgone college for small securities. stretching his muscles and glaring over the screaming and with no rhythm. Longworth to follow the Dead. And it was great: it was With a charismatic gesture, she threw the crowd. He noticed that lack of spirit from heard enough. long, long nights, the sweet smell of grass, stop sign down. It fell like a tree, with a sharp the group, all was quiet and still. However, So he turned away from the petrifying the high moon hanging like a spotlight over cracking slap to the pavement. It was a sat- he continued aloud. stare, then glanced again. The bodies had the horrible black wall of speakers, and the isfying insult, to her mindless job, the sear- "What is there for me? I have done so returned to their living state. Their artificial incredible people who befriended her no ing pavement, and the hecklers, who were much in my life, influenced more than my afterlife was gone. They were lucky; they matter what she said her name was that night. still wagging their tongues out of the win- rightful share, and because of my meddling were not beyond Longworth's help, even if It was great, but it wasn't really impres- dows like dogs licking the wind. have caused events to which I cannot speak, they couldn't help him. Their artificial after- sive on her resume. "You wanna go?" she stared at the boys. or brought about times of great peace, hap- life was gone. She was daydreaming, again. The whistle "Go." Let them get in an accident. She didn't piness and prosperity. "Alas, no. Questions remain, answers are had called, and the beeping on her watch had care that they were suddenly silenced. "I've travelled the world over on many lost. Time has been wasted here. I must travel been going off for a while, but she didn't hear She wasn't proud or happy. She didn't occasions, on the Viking ships that conquered elsewhere now; my questions must be an- it. She has been late again. She flipped the look back. She was still unsure, but at least, the Celtics, on the mighty Mayflower that swered." sign around in her hand quickly, confusing she was being herself, which was more than . founded this very land. Even on the com- With those words, Kozoxs continued his an old woman who was already half way into a machine that rotates a pole every four min- fortable cruise ship that lost its tragic fight journey. the construction zone. utes. It was a start. And maybe this time, she with an famed iceberg. To where, or what time remains a ques- While the rusty blue car jerked back and would make it more than just a whim. "Why, I've even travelled off this rock tion yet to be answered.