eyedreamism_iv eyedream The café was busier than usual. He didn’t see me, but I saw him and waved him over. As he walked his foot caught on the coffee table leg and he stumbled. Light, creamy bronze liquid splashed his cargo pants. He cursed mildly, as though not really bothered, and held out his coffee cup like a holy grail as it dripped over his fingers. I smiled. Spiky-haired and wearing a pinstripe button-down over a skateboarder’s long sleeve shirt, gawdy Nikes on his feet, and with the everpresent pair of headphones dangling around his neck, he was the embodiment of his alma mater. He seated himself on the couch and began licking his latté from his fingers in a contented catlike way. Then as he reach for his cup again, he knocked a newspaper into it, spilling the remainder all over the teakwood. He frowned at the puddle on the table and then chose to ignore it, rather than making any further attempts to remedy the situation. He looked up casually as though just noticing my presence. “Why, hello, Sidney!” he said pleasantly. I suppressed a laugh and used my napkin to clean up the coffee. “So how did it go last night?” “Firth thingth firth,” he said, crossing one leg over the other and curling a hand in the air in his, I assume, gay mimickery. “Who ITH thith BOY? He lookth pothitively—” “Don’t say fabulous. And I believe the deal was on a no-questions-asked basis?” “Oh, come on, Sidney.” he cocked his head like a golden retriever, his light eyes looking watery with hope. “No.” “Come ON. I won’t tell your parents on you.” he grinned. “I could use the same angle.” “Pleeeeeaaaase Sidneeeeeey!” “Oh, please, don’t wheedle. It doesn’t work with me anymore.” “Sidneeeeeey!” he pouted his lips like a petulant child and looked at me unhappily. “Are you honestly not going to tell me the identity of this mystery man? After I forenged—” “Forenged isn’t a word.” He frowned. “Well, what word did I mean?” “Maybe forged? Considering the context?” “Forged! That’s it. After I forged through the wilds of some strange man’s home, doing many unthinkable things, many of which are indubitabitubly—” “Indubitably.” “Which are undoubtedly—” “I thought you were going to use indubitably?” “Sidney, that’s what I said.” “You did not! I heard you. You switched to undoubtedly.” “Sidney!” he half-shouted. “Did I lose any of the original meaning?” “I don’t know,” I half-shouted back, “You wouldn’t finish the stupid sentence!” “And why do you think THAT is?” We both took a moment to calm ourselves. “Okay,” he said slowly and distinctly, “What was I saying?” “You were telling me how it went last night,” I lied. “Oh, right, right. So I go inside after picking the lock with a hairpin, as I am a horrific genius, and then I’m in. Lock the door behind me, as specified. Proceed with the goods to the living room. Pretty nice space. Have a look-see, then I do the job. Hey, Sid, really, was any of this illegal?” “Probably all of it.” I said. “Oh.” “Don’t worry, if you are thrown in jail, then—well, I will deny being a co-conspirator, of course, to not do that would be foolish—but I will bring you some homemade—okay, storebought—” “Oh, don’t bother. You’re a terrible cook. And a mutinous sister, I might add. I would plead guilty, bargain for a shorter sentence, and sell you out. Then you’d learn the meaning of treacherous! You’d be in the women’s prison faster than you can say the word ‘forenged’. Which, by the way, is a real word.” “It is not. And you switched from mutinous to treacherous. Males your age never stay committed, not even linguistically, I suppose.” “That,” he said, “Is stereotyping of the worst kind.” “Good observation.” He looked insulted. “Well, Sidney, I’m not a moron.” I decided not to refute it. A wise person chooses their battles. “Once he calls and confirms that you have held up your side of the bargain, I will hold up mine.” “Wait, what? We didn’t discuss this.” “How am I supposed to know you did everything you were expected to do?” “What the hell reason would I have not to? Oh, fuck this!” I stood up, walked sedately around the coffee table, sat beside him, and hugged him hard. “I love you.” He kissed my hair. “Yeah, yeah. Do I get to listen in on the phone call? I think it’s my right.” “Out of the question.” “Sidney.” “Besides, I have no way for you to do that.” “Sure you do. I’ll listen with these headphones I just so happen to have. I’ll attach them to your phone, we’ll have a listen, and I’ll walk away thoroughly contented.” He snatched up my cellphone. “Hey!” I admired his usually blunt fingers delicately maneuvring my phone. “Perfectissimo!” he cried out, cued by the ringing of the phone. We both jumped a little. I snatched it from him as he put the headphones on. I hoped that Ethan wouldn’t mention our naked session from the previous week. “Sidney.” “Ethan?” “Sidney…” In my peripheral vision I could see a face beside me, listening intently to the headphones, questioningly mouthing the name ETHAN with shocked delight. “Okay, Sidney, allow me to express my shock in this way. I have had a bad day. Not bad in the perspective of all-of-the-problems-in-the-world way, but when it comes to the Ethan’s-life-way, this ties with grade one when Marcus McCrowley beat me up. I found out that all of my furniture wouldn’t arrive until two days after I would get to the house, for the reason given that if I didn’t like it, I should take it up with the president. I transferred funds I didn’t know I had or that I had to transfer, drove through the Bermuda triangle of this ungodly area, and searched for my new place for a quasi-eternity before finding it was right where I had started looking. I went into the house exhausted, thirsty, starving, and homicidal. I knew my night would be a similar hell. Blank walls greeting me, sleeping on a hard floor, no food, no light, no sound, no Sidney.” Beside me, the face stretched into a silent “Awwwww!” of endearment. “And then I opened the door. I went into the living room first and discovered—what do you think I discovered?” “I have no idea, Ethan.” “Let me tell you. It had been beautifully painted in soft reds and burnt golds, looking like an Oriental oasis. I almost expected that there would be a turbaned emperor perched on a divan asking me to salaam to him. Lamps were everywhere, nothing too bright for my tired eyes. An enormous thick rug was on the floor. I proceeded to the bathroom, where I relieved myself in the toilet, not to give you an overflow of undesirable information, looking upon—what do you think I was looking upon, Sid?” “I couldn’t possibly know.” “Well, it was a spray of freshly cut roses in a vase which made the whole bathroom smell cool and fragrant. I then went to the kitchen. You couldn’t imagine what I found there?” “It’s a mystery to me.” “There was an enormous pot of Italian soup was simmering on a stove, and a basket of hot baked garlicky bread was on the counter. I suddenly became aware of music playing, some sort of nostalgic music. The kind you play in your convertible when you are taking your scantily-clad wife to the Bahamas after winning the lottery. Simple, good-natured music. I recognized it to be Don’t Worry Baby, by the Beach Boys or whoever. I was despairing on finding the source of it before I looked in the bedroom, where to my astonishment, there was a piece of furniture. Do you know what piece of furniture it was, Sidney?” “No,” I said softly. “It was a bed, Sidney. An enormous white sleigh bed with a huge duvet and a wrapped chocolate truffle on each of the two pillows. Like a really good hotel. You could fit a third of China in that bed, Sidney, and they would all be comfortable. And under that bed was a new stereo. Hence the mystery music!” I smiled to myself. “Sidney, why did you do this for me?” “Why not?” A long pause. “Sidney…you can’t just…go around, doing these things for people. It makes a person feel undeserving. Or obligated to return the favour. It’s not right. A person can’t just…” “I love you.” Another long pause. Beside me, the hands were taking off the headphones and one palm rested on my shoulder. The voice crackled slightly. “Sidney, I don’t know what to—” He sounded lost and confused, full of hope, yet afraid. I smiled softly. “So long, Ethan.” Dial tone. I cleared my throat. “So, little brother,” I said. “Now I will hold up my end of the bargain, and we’ll be done with the whole sorry boiling.” “Case closed!” he said gleefully, and we proceeded outside. anxiously waits (this was a long one) 030821 ... User24 as I have come to expect, you are master of suspense, and as no doubt you have come to expect, I will await the fifth, neatly perched upon the edge of my seat. grins 030821 ... Flowers from Safeway It's not just what you write about, but how elequently you write that makes us all adore you. I hope you enjoy writing them as much as we enjoy reading. 030821 ... neesh wow, so soon after the third, i was a little dubious. how silly of me, it's as incredible as the others. envies your talent 030821 ... endless desire i just don't even have words anymore. gets lost in your stories. 030821 ... ferret does this fix it? 030821 ... ferret it did! yay! i was having trouble reading it because the page wouldn't load all the way, but anyway, i love it! it's great, and so soon after the thrid, URGH! YOU NEED TO COMPILE THIS ALL TOGETHER! lol, it WOULD make a great book if you could find some way to tie it all together 030821 ... oldephebe Ditto, Ditto, Ditto!! what ferret said, or rather exclaimed or gushed or ... Edream, you really should be getting this stuff published. It's easily good enough, and your delicate, almost cquettish approach to intimacy is deliciously exasperating - now perched keenly on edge of swivel(ed) chair - waiting for the next gush of glorious prose - well not really prose more like um ..short story? so many glorious streams here later, 030821 ... screwing for virginity just simply :) 030823 ... watcher i enjoyed this one quite a bit too, but ethan's descriptions seemed a little awkward for some reason 030825 ... once again it makes me smile. see me smile? =P 031001 ... Death of a Rose I can see that (maybe) some character development is happening here. BOOBIES for all. Good stuff. 031101 what's it to you? who go blather from