Scene: Morning of Trev's departure. Girl sits at table, letter open, warm snizzle turning cold. Her mother stands at the sink washing the morning dishes.
Mother: You going?
Girl: No, I don't think so.
Mother: I think you should.
Girl: Yeah, well, I don't see the point.
Mother: What does he say in the letter?
Girl: Same as always. Loves me to the end of hyneria and all the rest.
Mother: I meant about today. What did he say?
Girl: Wants to see me. Last time, something he wants to say.
Mother: You should go.
Girl: Why?
Mother: He loves you.
Girl: He has a strange way of showing it.
Mother: He's young.
Girl: He's strange.
Mother: I still think you should go.
Girl: I don't love him. And even if I did, what would it matter. He's got a ticket, not me. It's not like he is inviting me to go with him.
Mother: Go for me.
Girl: What does that mean? For you?
Mother: He will kiss you.
Girl: Yeah?
Mother: Have you ever been kissed by someone who loves you? Kissed for the very last time? Kissed not to be kissed, but kissed in the moment in the wish that it was eternity? He will kiss you like that. And you know what, I want to hear about it. I want you to come back and tell me what that was like. I want to know what it is like to be looked at with those eyes, to be held in those arms, to have his soul pressed against yours and to feel lips against yours that tremble with things said and unsaid.
Girl: I don't see the point.
Mother: The point is, everything is not always about you.
21 comments:
Fascinating to see someone outside of the bubble, so to speak, that is Bravo. A scene about as unconnected as any have been, in others, that have featured others, time or association has been the link that brought it closer, in this case not only do we have events passed but we have a conversation that none of our characters are directly related to in any way, it is one that they will never hear nor know about...I may be wrong of course and there have been others, but I cannot think of one. There are those who believe that everything happens for a reason but that that reason may not be known to us. Similar it is when other people do things, their reasoning may never be known to us or understood by us, but without a doubt there were thoughts that led to action. To think of Trev, the poignant dock scene where he waits for the bobbing head of blonde hair that never emerges from the crowd, to know that he was so in love and that there were things he wanted to say as he faced not the assured imminent death behind on the Planet (a presumption) but as was told so memorably in the Chapel, the uncertainty of the unknown, which many times is considered worse despite chances and that he never got his chance. That he dreams of it still, that he wrote letters in hope, all those things that we have been told in the chapters leading up to this one which have opened hearts to feel his pain and gladdened them to see him healing and sharing love and life with Em. In An American Tail, you'll have to forgive me as I rattle on, there is a scene that best describes the great sadness and tragedy that to my mind at least it is, when two people know not what the other has thought and said and done when it could have made a difference to that person...In American Tail, as father and son search for each other, there is a moment when they pass each other by, where they are so close that if they only knew it, they could find each other then, but they don't and they turn and go on and never know, never for still it remains though there is a happy end, that heartache could have been avoided were it just for a few seconds or a decision made differently. There was Trev, writing and waiting and hoping and dreaming and remembering still and though I am sure there is a lot more to this story than we are told here - for example perhaps it is easier to convince oneself that one doesn't care, knowing that the other is leaving and that a harsh fate waits ahead and that in one way nothing therefore will matter in the end - and the girl at least as she appears here, though she sits with his letter, another clue, disregards him, not his feelings as such but in continuing them or going for his sake. I imagine what it must be like as a parent, as we have already seen in several dock scenes, to know that not only will one and the other be separated but that harm will or may befall and that again one will never know. In this case, mother and daughter will remain with each other, sharing the same fate..I had a point, but suffice to say, one wonders which is easiest, to share and watch and know for certain as the moments pass what fate shall pass ones loved one or to carry the hope til day ends. As she stands there in her kitchen doing an every day chore, life goes on regardless, speaking to her daughter, urging her to seize the opportunity, for though she may not love him, he loves her and your showing here is very poignant indeed that her wishes for her daughter are at the forefront of her mind, her wishes that if her daughter's life will be over much too soon that she will gain as much from it as possible. To be kissed by someone who loves you, have that, take that, feel it, once again Poppet, I marvel at your writing, how you get to where you are within a chapter and how it plays itself out, simple and complex all at the same time, just so wonderfully subtle in a direct way, which makes sense to me as I word it that way, though perhaps not to another. Mostly to repeat in regards to the actual content, there is such a sense of words unspoken here, not Trev's as such which we have heard some of elsewhere, but between mother and daughter and more specifically daughter. Girl you have called her so to speak and so it could be, that as he, she is young and not sensitive to what someone else needs, thinks and feels, but I think there is a lot more..whether we will ever hear it, matters not, for as things stand, we already know much more than Trev. Wonderful chapter, Poppet!!!
This is such an interesting read today. A snippet of conversation that is not only like a window to a whole other world we as readers may have never have thought about, but it also has such strong character development as well--it's so easy for me to relate to both of these characters in different ways--even with just a few breaths of conversation. awesome...
--snow
Snow, thanks for the kind words. When I write a chapter like this one, that is short, a brief exchange, I often wonder if it is enough. I've lived with this scene for several days. I've played it out in my mind many times and many ways. So, when I write with such few words, I worry that I'm just mentally filling in all the blanks in my own mind and leaving the reader in the dark. As always, nice to see you stopping by. :-)
Sweetest, one day, I'm going to teach you the art of the paragraph. :-D
As always dearest, you enrich my own understanding of the story with your insights and commentary. I'm not sure I will ever find the words to adequately find the words to express my appreciation and gratitude. :-)
That was just the first paragraph. I never got around to the next. :-D
Sweet dreams when you get that far, sweetest heart, x
Read and re-read this.
"The point is, everything is not always about you." This ties in so perfectly with the "pebble". I guess it is something that all young people have to learn.
The experience that the mother wanted her daughter to have had a spirit of it's own, would be a moment that would live and grow and take on different shapes as the girl aged. How changing moments are from different age perspectives. But what if it were so good, so right, that she yearned forever for that one moment that she could NEVER have again? That nothing else ever lived up to? Would I be able to encourage my daughter the same way? Something tells me that I would shelter and protect her heart as best that I could. We all can become so jaded anyway, why feed it even more? I am a hypocrite at times. A grinning effusing liar. I think I would have told her to stay.
Jen
Jen, interesting to see you take this scene from the world of hyneria to your world. I think what educates this chapter, as far as the story goes, is the context that hyneria is dying and so will everyone who remains behind, which is most everyone. In that context, the mother would not have the same fear that you would have in wanting to protect. With just months, perhaps, to live, the focus, at least for the mother in this instance, is to live, to live those things, as she implies, she did not have, and so, with age, she sees this opportunity differently than her daughter. Now, if the planet wasn't dying, maybe perhaps, the mother has a different view.
Now, having said all that, 'the girl' doesn't love Trev, wasn't even planning to see him off, has ignored all his letters, and so no last words or kiss is going to change how she feels. As she says, "I don't see the point." The mother in this chapter knows how Trev feels about her daughter. She doesn't say it, but she wants Trev to have his last goodbye. If she had said, 'do it for Trev' she knows her daughter would have rejected that out of hand, so instead, she says, 'do it for me.'
That last line about its not always about you comes from a friend of mine who had cancer. When he was talking to his dad about what God was trying to teach him, that the cancer was all about him, his father was quick to tell him, "it's not always about you. Maybe God is trying to teach someone else through you."
You know, there is the old joke, but still one of my favorites that really fits this chapter and the generations as represented here.
It goes something like this:
When we are 20, we think everyone is thinking about us.
When we are 40, we don't give a damn what anyone thinks about us.
When we are 60, we discover that no one was every really thinking about us in the first place. :-D
Oh Lord Tree, the joke was spot on.
I have a tendency to take EVERYTHING that I read and "put" it into my world. I love characters. I get into a story and try to see how I am like them, how I differ, would I have done that, would I have LET myself feel that way.....you get the idea. I probably will always read "The Story", with Earthly, fleshly eyes. You are always gentle in your reminder that it is of another place and time. I appreciate that.
But it is good, no? when people identify with and want to understand your writing. And it seems that parts of it have already taken root in my mind, my imagination. I hope that all is well in your REAL world, but that you spend some time in the story too, so that you can share it with us.
Be blessed!
Jennifer
OOH OOH OOH! Epiphany! The mother wants her daughter to live on in TREV'S memories through that kiss! The planet is dying but she could be carried in memory, a really GOOD memory, by Trev.
smiling, Jen
Jen, it is very good when someone identifies with the story or a character. I'm flattered. :-)
I hadn't thought of that angle from the mother, but I like it. When I wrote this one, I was thinking that the mother knew how rare it was to be kissed by someone that loved you and that her daughter was just missing the boat. Likewise, she wanted Trev to have that experience, to have that kiss and she wanted to hear about it from her daughter. I suppose we could look at her motivation from a lot of different angles, one of the beauties of the story. :-)
From Trev's view, he just wanted closure. He wanted to say in person what he had never said but only written. He wanted her to know, even thought he knew she would not return the sentiment. As we know, she didn't make it to the dock on time and he didn't see that bobbing yellow head in the sea of browns and greys.
Its been a while since I've been able to read other blogs. I love this post Trée. I love the way the mother thinks.
The last kiss. The last one before he says goodbye to the woman he loves. She should be there so that he can have his last kiss. She should be there because she'll feel the kiss of someone who truely loves her. A kiss like that is priceless.
xx
Elise, I've often thought of such a kiss, of how Trev would have felt, if he could have had that one opportunity, to say he loved her and in the final moment before departure, to kiss her for the last time. I've often wondered how that would have changed him. Or her.
Kisses are powerful things in this story. :-D
Kisses are powerful things period. :-) I loved this chapter Tr'ee. I love to go outside of the box...my box so to speak and live in a "fantasy". You have created a multifaceted situation in this chapter. Three different individuals...one kiss...all three see it in a different perspective. Wow!
Kimmie
When a kiss is not just a kiss. Kimmie, thank you for the warm words on the writing. A nice way to start my weekend. :-)
Good chapter. Love the last line.
Have a wonderful weekend Trée!
Ouch! "everything is not always about you." Yet I reckon he loved her true though she seems not to have been worthy of his love.
W, that's about how I sized it up, after about twenty years. :-D
Trèe, what powerful words. I was already moved to comment on the Mother's words about experiencing that kiss.. so stirred up inside with all the cinematic drama it suggests, and then I read your responses to the comments. Now, knowing the world is dying and that this is an even more poignant, more important moment to be experienced... and the careless disregard of the girl becomes more achingly sad.
I... had so much in the promise and joy that could have underlaid the Mother's words. Images of a depression era mother sending her daughter out into the world for instance. Whispers of resonance within my own life of kisses promised that more than lived up to impossible fantasy and kisses that somehow fell flat and were merely the brush of lips.
Your words are so powerful, so cleanly written that they speak to many places, not just your fantastic realm. Thank you for continuing to write, to create, to share...
kes
Wow, I think I really needed to read this today.
Love the mother.
Kes, so nice to see you stopping by. Thank you for the very kind words. They are very much appreciated. :-)
Hey Strumper. Yes, love the mother. :-D
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