callie tate
That's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.
callie tate
That's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.
That's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.
That's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.
I tap my foot to the beat of the song screaming into my head through my headphones, drowning out the absurdly annoying hum of the quiet dry-cleaner's machines. My hands are dry and cracking from hauling clean, warm clothing around all day. The bell rings and I start, dropping the bundle in my arms. Ugh, good thing Agnes wasn't here to see it land on the floor. "Be right with you!" I yell from the back, picking up the pile. CLANK. Something hard hits my knee. What the hell? I pick up the jacket that's dangling below the rest of the bundle. It's so... heavy. Whatever it is would have absolutely destroyed our machines if it had made it in there before destroying my knee. "In you go," I say to clothing as I dump it into the giant machine, but I hold on to the jacket in order to inspect its hidden treasure. I slip behind a rack of hanging clothes, out of view of the camera. Agnes hates it when I snoop through customers' things. I reach into the pocket that's pulling the rest of the jacket down, and pull out a round, metallic orb that fits in the palm of my hand. I stick it in my own pocket, throwing the jacket behind me and into the machine. Score! Now to attend to the customer that's incessantly ringing the bell at the front desk. "Hello," I say, removing my headphones. The woman continues to ring the bell. "Okay, I get it, I'm sorry I made you wait a couple minutes," I retort, "Could you please stop ringing that bell?" She switches to long, annoyingly spaced out rings. She doesn't know I'm here. I reach in my pocket for the orb, but it’s gone. No, no, no! I’m stuck like this.
Everywhere I look I see lies or delusion, Built on a terrible man-to-gain fusion. Oh, the terrors I have unknowingly caused, The lives of so many brazenly stopped or paused. I thought within these walls I was safe, Now they’re causing my very soul to chafe. Everything I’ve ever known has been wrong My only option is to trust a traitor’s song? Looking up to where dragons and fairies fly, We “earned”this by letting everyone else die? The sky full of stars seemed dead and cold; A place once so magical now hurt to behold.
Hey dad, are you busy? Give me a call tomorrow! The text from my daughter came through as I changed from my basketball shoes to my street shoes. I picked up my phone to see I have a missed call from her, too. I click the notification to call her back, hoping she hasn’t retired her phone for the night. “Hi dad!” “Hey, sorry I missed your call,” I say, not thinking much of the reason for it, “I was playing basketball.” “It’s okay! It can wait until tomorrow if you’re still there!” “I’m heading out now, so tell me!” “Well, Steel and I talked about getting married tonight.” My heart skipped a beat, but not in the way I always thought that it would. My only daughter is getting married, the one no one would ever be good enough for. But now, as it became a reality, my heart skipped with joy. “No way! That can’t wait until tomorrow! My daughter is engaged!” I hear a giddy, relieved laugh on the other end of the call and feel my own smile widen. After a long, hard road, we made it. I know she’ll be happy now.
The first juicy bite of a freshly sliced nectarine always takes me back. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, beginning in my childhood. We had a nectarine tree that would always produce fruit right when leaves started to change and the air started to chill. The fruit was better than candy, and we could never get enough. Sitting at our kitchen table staring at a skeletal centerpiece as we munched. My mom always decorated for Halloween as early as seemed reasonable. We loved Halloween. Fall leaves and jack o lanterns covered every surface, fall-scented candles were always burning, and spooky music was always playing throughout the house. I can still see it all; I can still transport myself back to it. It always happens during the first bite of a fresh nectarine.
When forces oppose, it’s good to be decisive. The estuary of human experience: one grew up fighting, one grew up loving. When they collide, can their stories blend? Or is it better to build a dam? A decision that requires totality, or one may end up having dammed in the other. A single touch and their fresh water becomes forever salted.
"Carolyn," he tried to swallow his fear, but his throat was so dry that her name erupted into a fit of coughs. She hadn't even heard his attempt to speak to her. When he had gathered himself again, he looked at her, standing with her back to him, and sighed. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The silky sage dress she wore fell loosely to the ground, leaving her back bare to reflect the moonlight. Seeing her gazing at the New York cityscape, lost in silent reverie, made him want to leave everything behind and devote his every moment to her simple happiness. But that was not an option. He shook his head to snap himself out of the haze that consistently overtook him when Carolyn was around. He had to tell her. She deserved to know. "Caro-" "Isn't everything so much prettier at night, Lex?" she sighed, turning toward him again. She smiled at him and leaned against the barrier separating her from the city below. The haze returned. He could so easily lose himself in her gaze, and it was growing more tempting by the minute. Especially after a day like today. "Alexander," she teased, knowing he didn't like when she called him by his real name. He walked over and took both of her hands, staring deeply into her light green eyes. She immediately fell into his chest, breaking eye contact, and Lex knew she could sense his uncertainty. His mind raced as he tried to put the words together. "I know you don't want to move to Rochester with me. You can just tell me. We'll figure something out. And whenever I have a break from classes I'll come visit you!" She spoke fast like she didn't want to give him time to disagree. "What? No, it's not that at all!" He reacted. He actually hadn't even thought about that at all since she brought it up the night before. "I would follow you to the moon if I could, it's just-" "Work? Family? Stubbornness? I'm not asking for the moon, Lex, it's only a 5 hour drive." "Carolyn," he consoled her, "I love you. I want to be with you. I just don't get much of a say." "What do you mean?" she shouted, the tears began to fall. He pulled her into a hug, not knowing what else to do. He needed to think without her responding to how well she could read his face. This was not going the way he had imagined it. "Do you remember," he began, "when you were walking home from a late night shift because I didn't come to pick you up? A group of thugs tried to rob you, and you were saved by the one they call The Tempest, remember?" She nodded in his chest, "I was pretty mad at you." Her voice was muffled against him. "Or when I didn't show up to our date and you saw later that night on the news that he had been involved in finding an escaped criminal?" She stared at nothing, nodding slowly. She was beginning to put it together. "Or that time-" "It's you..." she whispered. "Yes!" He exclaimed, relieved he didn't even have to say it. "It's you!" She pushed herself away from him. He was speechless, Anger? She's angry? Not what I had expected.