Wednesday, July 13, 2011

running away with the moon

my love affair with middlenight
(and mr. s and friend A)


do you know mr. s? mr. s and i have a long, complicated
history. it's a love/hate thing between us. see, i love s. i really love s. 
i can't function without (something like) 10+ hours of him. 
i don't know if it was all the time apart (and then
too much time together) in college. or the teenage trauma 
we went through in high school, and beyond. or what. 
but at some point, he began to elude me, mr. s did.
now, we don't get along, most of the time. i frequently have trouble
riding the wave, counting the sheep, sailing off into the sunset, whatever. 

and so, since college or thereabouts, i've been cheating. 
cheating on mr. s with his unnatural doppelganger—we'll call him A. 
A, if you've not met him, is, as one friend called him, "a magical little ninja."
he sneaks up on you and before you know it—bam! you're out.
what? no tossing and turning? no sleep masks and calming baths
and drinking gallons of tea with valerian root that doesn't work?
no warm milk and reading before bed and not reading before
bed and consistent exercise and strict no talking rules?
that's right. 
A is here like a superhero to help you out.
and i found myself in love with him, too.

but sometimes, like last night, i try to break up with A. 
i know he is just a fancy phony. a rebound. a fake.
i told him sayonara, i've had enough, it's quitting time. 
i exercised, i didn't drink coffee (just to be safe), i lay
quietly (for a while), i grumbled at someone to turn out the light,
i thought sleepy thoughts ... i resisted the charms of addictive A,
and before i knew it, i met one of my oldest friends—middlenight. 
we go way back, middlenight and i. 
he was always my favorite—so lovely, so still, so companionable, 
so inspiring. i did my best work with him. we had such fun,
until the sun came up. and then i cursed him and told him i never
wanted to see him again. 

but for a while, last night, we were together again. 
middlenight, how i've missed you. 

sigh. i don't know who i like more at this point.
what's a girl to do?


Goob from Meet the Robinsons.

3 comments:

  1. A wonderful read, r. You capture this so well... I find myself reading it over & over again. Pure delightful text.

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  2. absolutely stunning. love.

    ReplyDelete