friend

[[You're standing in the train.->STREET]] You're meeting a friend tonight. A friend you've forgotten the name of. But you remember the grooves of their face, their voice fluctuating between thin and thick, their mannerisms mute and subtle.

[[You're wandering the streets.->FRIEND]] You think it was a bar where you agreed to meet. You could check your phone to verify the location but it's warm and sticking in your pocket. The humidity is rolling down your nose, your cheek, your neck. You squint at fluorescent lights.

[[You're standing face-to-face with your friend.->BAR]] A bell tolls. You can barely see them through this heat. They whisper something. You can't really make it out, and you don't want to ask them to repeat what they said. You think they said: [[It's been a while.->BEEN A WHILE]] [[I'm spinning the wire.->SPIN THE WIRE]] [[You still a liar?->LIAR]]

[[You're having a conversation in the bar.->BUS]] But the conversation's not that interesting. You would rather listen in on the strangers surrounding you. You are watching your friend melt and fade, the noise of this bar muddying until only the staccato notes remain, like raindrops hitting a car window.

[[You're waking up in the bus.->HOME]] Your eyes are so dry. You check the time and notice that you've been in this bus for five hours. Or was it four? It seems like too long to be stuck in a bus. But you're still not at your stop, and you know this even though your phone is out of battery. Eyelids are heavy, but whenever you close them you are back at the bar with the strangers and the music and the friend.

[[You're watching a movie at home.->DREAM]] It's a movie you've watched before. Your eyes closed, ears pressed into your pillow, the faraway sound of a memory of a memory of a memory of a memory. You think a long time has passed, but you can't be sure. Your eyelids are not thick enough to keep out the light. Like a frog.

[[You're dreaming.->DREAM 2]] "What were you trying to tell me today?" you ask your friend, rolling a wet glass of beer between your hands, squinting, searching. Their face keeps dissolving into colors and polygons, but at the right angle, it's like you're able to close in on a focus point: see them seeing you. You ask, "Why did we meet?"

[[You're having a conversation in the bar.->BUS]] It's been a while. You've gotten tall. I didn't think you'd make it this far. No, that's not a mole, it's a part of a tattoo. I've got an appointment at five but I could walk there with you. Do you remember that time when we did something bad? No, I like to remember mostly the good. I don't like you but I like talking to you. I'll only remember a sentence or two.

[[You're sitting at the bar.->BUS]] You're fingering your phone, caught between messaging somebody and focusing on your friend. You can imagine their annoyance with you, but when you look up you only see their face also lit up by their phone screen. Tapping, typing. Maybe this is ok. All the lights are cool and warm. You share the exhaustion of a long work day. Your muscles, tight and sore, curling as you lean back and make way.

[[You're having a conversation in the bar.->BUS]] Honestly, your memory is so bad, you probably couldn't even be honest if you tried. But is that such a bad way to live? You can still hear the crickets and the oldies and your friend sitting across from you. Let's get another drink. Watch the moment turn into a memory. Like watching a sunset at the shore. A life of ephemera.

[[You're standing in the train.->STREET]] You're meeting a friend tonight. A friend you've wanted to meet for a long time. But you can't remember why. Lights streak by as they take you through a tunnel. You've got to remember, and time is running out.

[[You're standing in the train.->STREET]] You're listening to a song so nostalgic it could be played off your bones. With your earbuds in, only you can hear it, this tune you're wanting to hum to. Everyone has a song like this. They will understand if you sing.

[[You're standing in the train.->STREET]] You're meeting a friend tonight. A friend that always tells the same stories to you over and over again. You don't mind it, though. You can never remember what they say.

pot 2 the emotional whiplash of ordinary events [[This is a link that begins the story->TRAIN]]

[[You're still dreaming.->DREAM 3]] "Why did we meet?" they repeat, incredulous. "We're just hanging out. That's what friends do."

[[You're still dreaming.->DREAM 4]] "Not us. There's always a reason with us."

[[You're still dreaming.->TRAIN]] Maybe they're uncomfortable with your staring—you only realize you've been staring when they turn away, where there's no chance of regaining any focus, and you think they say: [[That's only you.->ONLY YOU]] [[That song you knew.->SONG YOU KNEW]] [[I was talking to you.->TALKING TO YOU]]