The Inconvenience Of Life

One-sided Conversations

Santa Monica Pier: October 17,1929

Red: the color of many emotions.

"Isn't the night just beautiful?" I looked up to see him reclining on the edge of the pier, facing the ocean. Years of late night performances left permanent marks of sleepless nights on his face. I myself suffered the same fate. The life of a performer, a cruel fate satisfied only by the small window of spotlight granted a few hours every night. Although the job pays well, there were times where I would wonder where I would be had opportunity not come knocking at my door.

I stepped out of the venue to get some fresh air. Inside, the ball continued, steps and music combining and echoing to the outside world. Banter and cheers filled in the spots of silence. In all, the atmosphere inside was suffocating. The memories of the week flashed in my mind.

"Lookin' like someone's a bit jazzed up." I joked as he swayed to the side from loss of balance. "It was nothin' but a bit of giggle water. The bimbo at the counter was being a wet blanket so I had to sneak some hooch from a speakeasy out on the streets. I don't even have that bad of an edge." With that he took a proud stance only to quickly lose it and stumble over.

"Conner Reyes, you truly are something else."
"Why thank you, doll, I take pride in being ossified from time to time. Maybe you'll join me one day." He offered his hand to escort me away from the celebration so we could speak without being interrupted.

"We definitely hit all sixes this night. The crowd was going wild. They adored you." His voice was light, almost like a song in the wind. It was close to the middle of the night with the moon directly overhead and stars burning bright. The boardwalk was empty, free of any passers-bys. "You stole the show. I only gave what my voice could give, you gave everything you had."His face lit up with joy. At that moment I was taken back to when we were children, playing pretend at the park and not caring about the world for we lived in our own imagination.

Conner was finally beginning to recollect himself. "Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. You were absolutely stunning. If folks haven't taken notice of you yet, they certainly have now. Baby, you're goin' places soon!" I felt the blood rush to my face. The thought of being famous was something I only believed happened in dreams. "Says you!" I retorted. Dreams are only dreams after all.

About one argument and several exchanges of past stories later, the demeanor of the conversation began to change drastically. It started when I mentioned past relationships. Conner had gone silent. His eyes no longer shone bright. They grew dull and blank in expression. I should have never mentioned the subject. "Cat's got your tongue?" I tried to lighten up the situation. Something was clearly bothering him. "Annette, I need to tell you something. Something I haven't told anyone. You've got to promise me you won't tell a living soul a word about this, you hear?" His expression was nothing like I had ever seen before on him. It was the face of heartbreak.

"You can tell me anything."

"I was in love. This girl, she was like no other dame I had ever met. She was perfect in every single way. I loved her and she loved me. Annette, I was going to marry her," he whispered. His voice was already breaking, tears were forming at the corner of his eyes.

"It was Wednesday night. I had walked her home. At her doorstep, I proposed with my mother's ring. She was overjoyed. The look on her face could put all happiness to shame. It wasn't until the next morning did I find out what happened. She was found dead at her door."

"She had a shiv straight through the heart. And they took the ring. It was gone. She was gone. The love of my life, lost to the blade of another. She was my everything, my world."

Two children sat on the swings in a park. Together they think of a world, the perfect world, a place for them to let imagination loose. They spend days thinking up their new land, each day adding more details, adding more depth, adding more life. They use their world as a way to live out their dreams. Dreams they knew could never come true. And then came the day when one of the children had to move away. Both children agreed that day that the world would still live on. It would be their world. And only their world.