My husband is clattering about in our driveway while he changes the oil in my car.
The fire truck leaves.
There are voices of children playing around the corner, down the street.
A man stops on the sidewalk, his dog waiting on a leash while he checks his phone.
A woman waits in her driveway, with the ambulance still parked out front, doors closed, patient inside.
An unseen airplane roars quietly overhead.
The sun is setting, leaving gray, drawn-out clouds in its wake.
The woman still waits, leaning against her tan minivan.
A motorcycle rumbles past.
A large white pickup truck rounds the corner, slows as it passes the ambulance, but doesn't stop.
Why isn't the ambulance leaving?
What is the woman waiting for?
Our neighbor across the street takes out her trash.
Another airplane flies overhead.
The ambulance leaves, no lights, no sirens blaring.
The woman watches the ambulance go, then walks slowly over to a large pile of brush by her mailbox.
She bends slightly,inspects something, then turns and walks back into her house.
The white pickup truck from before passes our house.
The children are still playing down the street, quieter now.
My husband still clatters in the driveway.
I return to my journal writing, with more questions than answers.
What a great slice about observation, Chris. Sometimes there's tension in the lack of connections within observations, and you've done this really well here.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melanie. It was a surreal scene that hit me all at once. Glad I had extra paper at hand to record the details!
DeleteDetailed observations. I liked to see the street through your eyes from the porch.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terje. It was an odd afternoon!
DeleteThat does leave a million questions. I'm most puzzled by the woman. I hope the answers I have formed aren't the right ones. Sometimes it seems when things happen, everything in the world should stop for a bit, but the truth is life just goes on all around.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't figure out the woman's actions, either. My son arrived home from college just moments after the ambulance left. When I relayed the details to him, he suggested that the patient may have been a worker, perhaps removing the brush from trees in the back. If I ever write a mystery, this might be a good place to start!
DeleteThere are so many questions here! This piece speaks to the power of observation and the importance of always having a notebook with you. I'm so glad you captured all of this and I, along with others, am still wondering about that woman's actions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Molly! I was lucky to be on the porch at that time, too. Pretty soon, the heat and the bugs will get in the way of that vantage point.
DeleteWhat an incredible set of observations. And I love how you've structured it - the juxtaposition between the everyday and the crisis is vivid from the line "The fire truck leaves." Wow.
ReplyDeleteThe whole scene struck me as surreal, especially with the man stopping at the end of the hike and bike next to our house to check his phone, even as the ambulance workers were assisting the patient. Thanks for the kind comment, Amanda!
DeleteYour careful observations give us a window into life on your street. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSo vivid, Chris. It's just like being there, feeling the heartbeat, the rhythms, of everyday moments. And the oddity of this scene -! Your questions make the piece. I'd love to know what the heck was in the brush, after all that ...
ReplyDelete