bill tender_square i had this dream that you wanted us to go to the northwest territories for vacation, he began. it was far and it was expensive and we were only going for a week. the hotel we were staying at was like a holiday inn, except it was like, $800 per night. the town was small and undeveloped. i couldn’t understand why you wanted to go there so badly. you offered to pay for the first night in the hotel with your own money, but i said that it didn’t make sense and i would take care of it. what do you think it means? she asked. honestly? that we’re going to a cold and empty place and that i’m paying the bill. 220314 ... tender_square whispers flapped like wings around the picnic tables. drink glasses sweated in the heat, their contents emptied before the ice could melt, replacements materializing like magic from the server. did you hear about bill? his obit hit my inbox my first day of employment. it said he was a journeyman at the company. he loved his job, his animals, and playing darts and playing pool. the statement lied, like they all do, saying bill passed peacefully. the funeral home's paragraph was signed by bill's "beloved wife". he had gambled away all their fucking money. she confronted him at work and slapped his face in front of baffled onlookers. after she kicked him out, bill went to live with a friend who partied just as hard as he did and totalled the guy's truck after a bender. then, bill took his own life. 230609 ... epitome of incomprehensibility My dad's friend and friend's dad. He's the one who didn't care for my parents' electric_car, which I've compared to a dog. He also doesn't like the dog. He doesn't like dogs, period. This I should accept. He was here yesterday for supper. Shiloh nosed around him and he moved his arm back. We put a long leash on him and looped it around a doorknob so he could roam around somewhat but not reach Bill. But before that I said, somewhat obnoxiously, "You can pet him. He's friendly." Didn't add, "He only bites our family!" and thus position myself as someone mocking everybody, aloof from everybody because I'm as involved as a leash attached to multiple avenues why avenues because the streets are paved with metaphors. 240402 ... e_o_i What_made_you_laugh_today: I just reread this and it sounds like my family put a leash around Bill. What weird shit are we up to? (I mean, a lot, just not in that way, usually.) 240402 what's it to you? who go blather from