Crossties
Regrets lined behind him like crossties on a railroad track.
When nights took too long, he traded his bed for a bucket seat, drove in searched circles, but answers always lurked around the next corner…and then the next. Back in bed, he'd continue to drive.
He had a job that revolved around numbers. Answers appeared with the push of a button, but not the ones he wanted. His boss asked him to leave long before he could leave on his own.
The job before that ended when he forgot to go…for fourteen straight days.
Sometimes he fooled himself into believing it was an accident, but such part-time foolery left too much to contemplate, which lead to midnight drives, the ones when he left his bed, and the ones he didn't have to.
Whichever, there were no answers to be found, only crossties ahead for as far as he could see.
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Author's Note
When I'm in a bad place, I write little stories like this.
Other stories by Foster Trecost
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Your work often has magical properties that exceed the simple inventory of what's printed on the page. It often reminds me, in that way, of Joseph Cornell's art.
Walk on the rails instead. Watch out for trains. Deft writing; not a word wasted. Fav.
like this.*
Good piece -
"Sometimes he fooled himself into believing it was an accident, but such part-time foolery left too much to contemplate, which lead to midnight drives, the ones when he left his bed, and the ones he didn't have to."
The writing is solid.
Great opening. Great closing. And yes all the stuff in between too.
Admire this small thing quite a lot.
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Well done.*
You blur the line between wakefulness and sleep, consciousness and forgetting. I like very much.
I see on your "about" that you're coming home this month. Welcome back, Dawlin.
Very interesting the way the regrets were aligned (neatly if you will), and discrete (in the mathematical sense). The crossties that lay ahead ... what were they? The regrets of the future? The irony of the fake reward at the push of a Pavlovian button ... Brilliant writing as usual Fos.*
Very fine, Fos. (You don't need that last sentence, you know.) Hope you get back to the good place soon.
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So loaded and universal and concise. Wonderful*
Not wishing you more bad places, but wishing for more stories like this. *