Life wants to live. Life wants to live.
Von sat in the waiting room, those words his hope, his dagger.
Life will fight to live. We don't understand it. But it is our best hope.
You may see her now said a voice he didn't recognize and would not remember. Upon the white pillow her auburn hair flowed and she looked almost comical with her balloon belly hiding under the sheets like a child hiding a ball.
Zoe opened her eyes and reached for his hand. You know, she said, what Ceru would say?
Von shook his head.
When the rain was heaviest and the waters started to rise he would look at me with those deep blue eyes and say that the only way to float, was to smile.
Von couldn't find his tongue.
Squeezing his leathered hand she said, Von, will you do me a favor?
He nodded through glassy eyes.
Float me out of here. Then she smiled and he smiled back as the sun shinning through the rain.
Soundtrack: Colby's Song by Joshua James
17 comments:
Earlier this year I returned home to see my Grandmother. She was dying but somehow, against all sense, hanging on. My uncle, her son, took me to lunch. We talked. I couldn't understand what was keeping her alive. For reasons I can't explain, I'll never forget what he said. Life wants to live.
Life wants to life, and it does, and it will, and then, inexplicably, it moves beyond itself somehow.
Trée, I am grateful that you share so much of what you see. Right now you see through me.
xoxo,
Molly
Molly, the pleasure has been all mine. A toast: To the dancing of imaginations as barefoot children before the campfire, full of giggles and hidden desires, of bellies warm and loins stirring, of shadows sought and and memories made.
Reverberation. Simple, highly effective is the repetition of the first sentence and reading your comment and with referral to what I said below, from the heart it becomes reflective, the intensity, deeper. Heard deeper. I wanted to listen to the song again before commenting, but alas, my sound is being uncooperative once again, but to make a molehill out of a mountain, it lent flavour to what was delicious. Enormously moving, I flat-out refuse to move beyond the simple anxiety associated with possibility and choose instead to stay safe within the notion that fate would not be so cruel as to strike lighting so closely twice. Ridiculous to accredit refuge to that belief perhaps, but it is taken nonetheless, for that moment, where Zoe speaks of Ceru and Von speaks no words, holds me hostage and I just can spare nothing else without shattering. Hot dam. For the degree of emotion you elicit, (for all the 'I's written in this comment :) it could be right here, right now, up close and personal. Excellent!
what a beautiful conversation!!! Do they really have them anymore???
Float me out of here...that is such a tempting thought... I love it!
Sweetest, this chapter, or at least its outline, had been in my head for sometime. Yesterday, walking in the park and listening to Joshua, in particular Colby's Song and that wonderful lyric of the rain coming down and the only way to float was to smile, right then I knew I wanted to used that, to put those words into Zoe to talk about Ceru to his father. Of course the rain fit perfectly with what happened on Hyneria and having Ceru say it only adds to the legend of our least known character. Still, as I have alluded, there are, perhaps to come, even more powerful scenes between Von and Zoe in hospital. Stay tuned. ;-)
Mona, in the world of my imagination, they do. I'm still working on how to translate that into my non-imaginary life. I'll get back to you when I figure it out. Loved your post today. Absolutely loved it. :-)
Trée, clinking of glasses to your toast, imagination running freely through the woods, darting, teasing, hiding, revealing.
To the fullness of all feeling.
xoxo
Molly
Molly, I stand before the coming storm, arms extended, chest bare, broad, shield smooth, my back arched as a diver, dolphin taut. Within my core, an energy swirls, faster and faster as my twin agents of eternal recreation walnut tighten, anticipation smiling, peach curved.
LOL, sometimes I can't keep a straight face as these words slip from my darker recesses. I just ate breakfast so I'm not sure why these images of food keep coming to mind. Perhaps I hunger for a different sustenance. :-D
Perhaps you do, Treé, and I hope you find that for which you hunger. Take care, though, not to become too quickly sated ;)
xoxo
Molly
Thank you Molly. Advice noted. :-)
I do like the moments before sat and sated. Not sure what that moment is called either but a good friend of mine put his finger on it:
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
:-) at the comment above this one.
Ohhh, I do love this. I have read it several times through and still can't construct a decent comment in reply :) I so understand floating... floating on a smile is so beautiful... Thanks for getting this on the page.
Love the Pooh comment. Leave it to you to use Pooh Bear's sweet all stuffed with fluff-ness to describe anticipation.
Has the Baby been born or is Zoe dying along with the Babe or from birth?????
And Jeezly Crow I hope I haven't overlooked commentary! :)
Have you heard Johnny Cash sing In My Life? Something about his soulful voice singing that song makes me think of this post.
JRM, this is one of those chapters that perhaps will make more sense once the scene continues in the next couple of chapters. We don't know why Zoe is in hospital or the status of her baby or why Von is there with her alone. I can say I have some rather dramatic ideas about what happens next. So stay tuned. :-)
I love the line 'the only way to float was to smile' which comes from the song I've added as the soundtrack. I was out walking in the part, listening to Joshua and when I heard that lyric, I knew exactly how I wanted this chapter to play out.
Thanks for the kind words. Always appreciated. :-)
Jen, Zoe is still with baby and as far as we know, at this point in time, both are still okay. What happens next and how much danger both her and the baby are in, we don't know. I have a feeling it is more serious than we want to know and that this explains Von's behavior in this scene and the need for Zoe to reference his son, Ceru, to lift him, to float him from his fear and worry so to speak.
I have heard Johnny sing that song and I do love all the stuff he did in his last years. His voice was always authentic, sincere and just plain blue collar real. I can see why that song may have popped into your head here.
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