Tuesday, September 30, 2008

jamie and eric-28-trying to keep names straight

Just outside the cafeteria there was a glowing white lobby. There didn’t seem to be many people passing through at this time of day. What time of day was it? Light beaming in through glass doors and a couple of window told him late afternoon. Late afternoon. Eric took a deep breath, telling himself to calm down. He still knew where Jaime was. Did he?!
Eric lightning-fast checked his perception of the constant nudge. The nudge that he often took for granted. It was like wearing clothing. It was like feeling your breath expand into your lungs. But the nudge was there. So high up. But it made since now, Eric saw that the exits from the lobby were labeled ‘South Tower’ and ‘North Tower.’
The tower entrances were on opposite sides of the lobby, but all Eric could tell was that Jamie was up. So far up that Eric couldn’t feel any difference when he walked towards the entrance of one tower and back towards the other. Catching the curious glance of a miserly old man in warm black robes, Eric just bolted up the tower.

* * *
Master Graves turned to his assistant, a sturdy last year student struggling under a pile of books, “That was young Journeyman Eric, wasn’t it?”
The student, not really able to see and in the middle of a explaining the problem he was having with his research, obligedly responded, “Yes, I believe it was.”
“Huh,” Master Graves remarked to himself, absent-mindedly twisting the end of his moustache, “I didn’t know he had business in the North Tower. He lives in the West Tower, does he not?”
“I’m sure it was West, Master.”

* * *

The late afternoon light was still bright and Dahlia was fascinated by the shadow of the pencil tip striking the paper as she wrote her essay. The words flowed onto her paper effortlessly. Her professor only wanted to hear his opinion recited back to him, although that wasn’t quite how he had phrased the assignment. The tapping of the pencil tip as it came down was also satisfying.
There was a commotion at the front door entered into the periphery of Dahlia’s awareness. She felt dreamy though and could only muster up enough focus for the work before her.
”Class,” Professor Turntable cleared his throat before continuing, “it appears we have a new student. Novice- oh what was it again.”
Dahlia brought her attention forward. The office administrator stood in the doorway, clearly waiting to get back to her busy schedule. In front of her stood the boy that Professor Turntable was addressing. Dahlia’s jaw dropped. It looked like a younger Eric. Granted he was a good bit shorter, and scrawny where Eric had an athletic build. The bitter taste of used eraser overwhelmed Dahlia and she hastily removed the pencil from her mouth. She amazed herself. Certainly such an unpleasant habit wouldn’t stick.

Monday, September 29, 2008

jamie and eric-27-losing his mind

And then he realized that he hadn’t remembered any of this. Hadn’t remembered that moment, the moment when he had first bonded with Jamie, before this lunch. The memories were his. The knowledge, the knowing. Were natural in his mind. It felt more real than the bumming around the campus he did for five months. Real, but fuzzy.
Real, but fuzzy. Eric shook himself a little. He would ask Jamie about it later. He hadn’t been talking to Jamie. Jamie left his sandwich. Eric still had a lot of food, but it was cold and it wasn’t meant to be cold. Eric switched the plates around and started eating Jamie’s sandwich. He was surprised that his host family was away. Harnet was such a small town that if anything was happening Eric should’ve known and probably would have been there too. Maybe they had gone out of town to visit relatives and Eric had forgotten about it. Jamie should have finished dinner before going back to the library. Eric could feel Jamie’s presence. Feel it like a gentle tug that he could follow, could always find Jamie.
At least Eric though Jamie was at the library. The thought didn’t feel quite right. Maybe Jamie was talking with some of the processors at the college. Eric’s thoughts paused mid-bite. This was tuna fish. Jamie hated tuna fish. Why would he get a tuna fish sandwich?
It must have been a mistake. And then Jamie decided it wasn’t worth it to get something else, so he left to do whatever it was he was doing…
Which felt really high up. Eric didn’t think Harnet had any buildings this tall. Eric swallowed uneasily and the bite stuck in his throat. He coughed a little bit and grabbed the water to help him swallow. Eric could feel his body demanding food, but eating was starting to feel like a chore.
Eric pushed the sandwich away from him. His head felt clouded, heavy, and tired. He felt a little disoriented. Eric kept imagining Jamie soaring above Harnet. Far higher than Eric would ever levitate him. Well not that he couldn’t.
Jamie? Eric called out mentally across their shared bond. But the thought echoed back to him shattered, J- J- J- Ja- -mie -ie. Each syllable hit him like bullets and sent shivers through his body. He didn’t know how a thought echo was possible, but worse, Jamie hadn’t answered.
Eric stood up leaving the food on the table. Staring down at the full dishes Eric wondered whether the customers were supposed to bus their own tables here. He rubbed his arm, fear still rippling through him. The need to find Jaime overshadowed such a small task. So he left it. He left it, but guilt creeped into his gut. He should ask someone and not just leave. Had he even paid? Eric edged towards the exit, watching the wait staff out of the corner of his eye in case they made moves to snag him.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

tragedy and flowers

So a couple of days ago I left the rat cage open so the guys could poke their heads out. I've done this before and sometimes they will climb to the top of their cage, but they never try to take off so I feel secure letting them have the door open. This time, however, there where some deadly consequences, which I discovered the next time I came to water my plants...



If you'll notice, there are two small stems in the front of the pot that used to be vibrant seedlings as well as the deleafed nasturtium. I think I might get some wheat grass to keep on that window seal for them (it's right behind their cage).

On another note, Max and I made a painting together. He painted some of the background leaves and the top petal on lower flower. The imprecise nature of brushwork frustrated him so I finished his flower for him.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

wave afghan progress



This is my workspace. I don't always work on the floor, but I like to have a lot of room to organize my yarn colors. Yarn that I've already butterflied I keep together in plastic bags by color categories. Not shown are the two boxes of yarn I have waiting in my closet :-P




Here is the detail of what I've finished so far. I've cut the pattern up into squares to make it easier to work on and then I sew the squares together as I finish them.



The yellow box shows where this piece fits into the larger design. Despite using multiple colors to represent one color block, I think that the design is still clear in the finished piece. I surprised with how quickly this is going. I've only really been working on the afghan for a couple of weeks and have already completed 3/18 of the pattern. We'll see if I can keep this progress up.