A Figure Left the Building
by Ann Bogle
The weather permits. I sat on the lawn chair on my front step to smoke an organic cigarette. The basil bloomed at my feet, the rosemary. I heard a door slam across the street. A figure left the building. A woman came to the front door and called gently into the night, "Mark?" The man at the curb said, "Shit," but the other words he said were inaudible to me. Then he started and revved his engine. He pulled away from the curb on a small motorcycle, turned, and rode by in the breeze of his motion. The woman turned out the front light.
The editor and his lawyer said that to describe an event using a first name might be defamatory and that to permit it as writing requires the attention of a clerk to check facts.
The editor and his lawyer said that to describe an event using a first name might be defamatory and that to permit it as writing requires the attention of a clerk to check facts.
Give 'em factual, Ann! :)
Enjoyed this.
"rode by in the breeze of his motion."
Very tasty.
The sharp turn of narrative... Really another story... A meta fiction surprised and delighted. Experiencing your energy and your manipulation of the gates that regulate its flow make for delight.
***************
I greatly enjoyed the experimentation in this.
nice.
Very stark and well-written, Ann.
"The basil bloomed at my feet, the rosemary. I heard a door slam across the street. A figure left the building."
Good piece. *
Nice *
I like this, too! 'The weather permits:-) ':-)
Mysterious, what the writer notices, and how cleanly it is presented. The last graf confounds me. And it adds to the mystery of what might have happened between the man and the woman. Which doesn't at this moment deserve/merit being vetted by fact-checkers. * (I'm reading Vivian Gornick right now. How would she get through this gauntlet?)
Je suis. Jesus. That is what I said to Dean Dean Vasil at U.W.-Madison. He was my honor's teacher in French when he became a Dean named Dean. Je m'apple Ann.
Yes.*
Frankie, Gary, David, Steve, Bill, Sheldon, James, Sam, Christian, Carol, especially Pia, and Gary, thanks for your comments and fav's.
Slight edits in second paragraph 12/2/13 at 10:30 a.m. CST
Last sentence changed to reveal gender bias of editor and his lawyer, 10/30/2014, 8:28 a.m. CDT