Fall Memory #3 - In the Girl's Bathroom

12:35 AM
From outside the dank cube, they could hear the faint pulses of music, chairs and feet scraping, and the tell-tale sound of bottles popping and clanking.
But inside the bar's girls' bathroom, everything seemed a bit muted and inexplicably more colorful than the party outside.

"I don't know what else to say, woman. I don't like her. I'm not gonna like her and I really just want her to dis-a-fuckin-pear." the first said, pulling mascara from her purse. "I mean, can she really expect me to be fucking pleasant?"

She dragged liquid across each lash, then reached for the concealer she hoped would hide the fatigued red lines beneath them.

"I guess I get you," the second started, washing her hands in the tepid sink. "It's just, I mean...well you know, she's trying. She doesn't have to you know, she could not talk to you back." Her words fell dully away.

"Are you kidding me?!" the first answered, a ragged eye piercing back. Suddenly, she looked vulnerable, a wounded animal protecting something there inside the bathroom. "I don't like her. I never will. And I don't want her around. I'm going to see to that too. This is my time. She had her chance."

"It's just," the second stammered, "It's just I don't think that's it at all....it's that. I mean."

"What?!" the first responded, exasperated.

"It's just that I think she's happy where she is and just wants everyone else to be okay. You know? So she doesn't have to worry about stuff."

"Well she better worry," the first retorted. "I'm gonna cut the bitch."
And with that, she pulled lipstick out of her purse and scrawled the words next to the stall.

"Here we go."

Fall Memory #2 - Tuning out.

"Hey man."

"'Sup."

"I gotta talk to you about something. It's kinda important."

"Yeah?"

"There's this thing."

"I know. So, how's the music coming?"

"Dude, I can't seem to breathe anymore, you know? I gotta tell someone. You are..."

"It's gonna be a great tune, man. Keep working it."

"No really, seriously man...I've never seen this kind of thing before. I've got this feeling that..."

"What? You can hack this job, man. I mean, you been doing this for years, right? Just mix it differently. Cut the static back a bit."

"It's tough, you know? I didn't intend for it to come out like that. It kind of just came to me, just happened. It played this way. You get that right?"

"I trust you can do it, man. Just change the lines around a little. Pull back on the tempo and hit the soft tones more clearly. You'll see."

"You know what? You're right. It's going to be the most beautiful song."

Memory #1 - The Beginning of the Fall Series

It was the fall again, the second year of displacement.

Two bodies passed on a rainy, wooded path - the wet mashing of leaves beneath them.

The sounds seemed muffled, though still audible amidst the platting of drops against the darkening floor.

The sun could barely be seen above the trees and yet the light was so beautiful despite the clouds.

As they passed, their steps slowed and the travelers exchanged knowing looks - for they were the only two braving the afternoon in the woods.

"Do you know the way?" the first asked.

"I do not," the other replied.

In the pause, the wind picked up, rustling and kicking up tiny sounds in the trees.

"I do know one thing," the second started, the wind winding its way around her hair.

"Truth," the first answered. "Today is not a freeway day," he said.