You take them and wash them of irrelevancies, dress them in lovingly woven phrases that complement one another in tone and pattern, and maybe accessorize them with a few additional colorful descriptors or surprising interjections. The final punctuation secured on their feet; enough substance but not too much weight in their backpacks; their lunchboxes stocked with homemade syntactical treats, peppered with unanswered questions, and finished with a heartfelt note; you walk them to the end of the street and look them over once more to be sure you haven't forgotten anything.
They turn and wave goodbye, pausing just briefly before climbing the steps into the packed bus, which presently rolls along the information suburban boulevard, lunging toward the ramp onto the freeway, which is just becoming crowded with the first electronic greetings of the day, urgent requests and efficient-to-a-fault one-liners speeding impatiently by in the fast lane.
At the end of the day, they're at the front door again. They've traded sweaters or shoelaces with a classmate, and they have plenty of words to offer in response to your "what did you learn in school today?"
Sometimes, though, you send them out in the morning and, in the evening, the bus comes by your street but does not drop them off. And so you cannot help but wonder: How might they have become sidetracked? When will they make it home?
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2 comments:
they are hooking up with those irrelevancies that you tried so hard to wash them of earlier. you can't shelter them from the irrelevancies of the world, just hope that they will make the right choices as to which irrelevant friends they will hang out with, and maybe someday they will come back, or you will see them on the public bus, you'll stare at each other for a moment and then both shout and run to each other at the same time, and the irrelevant reunion will be sweet.
Absolutely delicious writing. A delectable treat far above the ilk of a brand that overpowers with its utterly intoxicating culinary seduction—Every single time(especially @ the airport=—Just Desserts. I nominate this for a baby [web] Pulitzer. !Buen Provecho!
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