I had this idea on Tuesday afternoon for a prompt. So we wrote to it Tuesday night. And I don't know what it means, or if it's any good, but it stuck in my head so I thought I would share it.--ct
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"If I close my eyes and try to think of nothing, this is what I see."
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If I close my eyes and try to think of nothing, this is what I see. I see a vast plain, uninhabited and bare. I see the sun low in the sky settling over distant mountains. I smell the cooling desert air that is not like the air of Cincinnati. I see an ice cream truck trundling along the desert road, its singsongy tune blaring. It's way down there on the desert floor, while I am high up on a ledge, thinking about nothing, or trying to think about nothing, having been instructed by my guru to try and think about nothing, but having something of a time of it.
I could tell you my whole life story just from this one image that comes to mind. That's me down there, driving the ice cream truck. That's me, ringing the bell, driving across the desert. That's me, thinking about the freon, how I'll make it across with all those Eskimo Pies, waiting for the children to emerge from the rocks and from the dusty floor of the desert.
Soon the children emerge, like phantoms, appearing out of the rocks like camouflaged lizards and coming up from the dusty floor of the desert; you didn't see them there because they blend in so well with the colors of the desert. Their shiny quarters glint in the setting sun. They buy Eskimo pies and wander off contentedly. I worry about the freon, will I make it across to Needles.
That's me driving the truck and this is me standing on the ledge watching. This is me dreaming of nothing. This is me trying to empty my mind and remembering everything I've ever forgotten.
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