I’m Moving Far, Far Away
Here’s an excerpt from my new book, WHITE SAIL, BLUE SEAS!!
YOU MOVED INTO our neighborhood about 20 years ago. You were by far the most colorful house on the block, with bright pink and blue paint and a gleaming white roof.
At first, you seemed like you really had something to say. You were interesting and clever at times, and most of the neighbors agreed that you made a good addition to our cozy little village. We would all gather on your front lawn and just watch, as you would keep us informed about the day’s events and perhaps entertain us with a joke or two. There was so much to learn and so much to see, that we all figured that you must be the new way forward.
But then things started to get nasty. The crowds gathering on your front lawn became bigger and angrier and rowdier. The mobs started to yell things and throw things and call the rest of us horrible names. And the angrier they became, the longer they would hang around your front lawn, watching you work your magic and stir all of them up into the most awful of frenzies.
Sometimes, the crowds would just stand there completely hypnotized by the lights and the colors and the sounds beaming from your house. As I would ride by on my bicycle, I could not help but notice that many folks in the crowd would just stand there and stare at you with their jaws dangling lifelessly from their exhausted faces. I would ride for hours and hours, and when I would circle back past your house, the same people would still be standing there with drool leaking from their faces and a look of hopeless paralysis in their dark eyes. Their arms would dangle lifelessly by their sides and their knees looked weak.
The mob in front of your house would alternate between screaming angrily at one another and staring, staring, staring. My God, how long they all could just sit and stare at your house.
So, I am leaving our little neighborhood and leaving you all behind. I have found a nice quiet cabin deep in the woods. There is no electricity and no technology there, and it will suit me just fine. The cabin is well-stocked with all my favorite books and I can’t wait to spend my days hiking and fishing, while spending my nights drinking coffee and reading F. Scott Fitzgerald by the fire.
When I was moving all my things into the cabin in the woods yesterday, far up at the top of the mountain I spied a bright red and green tent sitting up there all by its lonesome. The tent seems to be so far away that it can’t bother me, but who knows? I am hoping that if I lock my doors tight enough at night and bury myself deep under the covers in the silence of the forest’s natural darkness, it won’t be able to find me. Wish me luck.
J.S. Lender’s books are on sale now! — reefpointpress.weebly.com — Copyright © J.S. Lender / Reef Point Press 2021
