by Mike Downes
“What? Sorry I wasn’t listening. This damn GPS . . . Why is the ‘J’ greyed out? Ooh it thinks we’re in Michigan. Wait, consciousness? Bus?”
“Brat! I told you not to be fooling with that! Those machines always send you the scenic route. Just read the directions I printed out.”
“DK, it says to turn on Clinton Ave. We just passed Clinton . . . Street. Ok nevermind. Now what about that bus we passed? You know, you could say that a bus is kind of conscious, maybe not as conscious as a bird or insect or even a tree, but these days cars do react to external conditions to regulate cab temperature and tire pressure, and since a system’s ability to respond to it’s environment . . .”
“Lord almighty, you are a space cadet.”
“Why, what were you talking about?”
“I was talking about Ruby from Accounting, you know, her accent.”
“Yeah, she’s from Jamaica, right?”
“Guinea. We were in front of the office having our afternoon cigarette when some lady asks if the 79 bus went by yet, but we were talking so we didn’t know anything about those buses going by. Ruby, even though she’s been here twenty years, she says, ‘We have no consciousness of the bus.’” Kinda sounded like something funny you would say.”
“Weird. So you think I’m a weirdo?”
“All I’m saying is you can be looking right at something and still have no idea what’s going on.”
“Wow, Gramma D, that’s pretty deep.”
“Thanks, baby. You’re a good brat.”
3 comments:
Hell of an ambitious piece! Nice.
Thanks, friend! The first draft was basically unreadable, hahaha I almost missed the deadline trying to make it sound as effortless and unambitious as possible. I'm just glad if it brought a smile to someone out there in the ether!
I like how this sounds though I think it would be much better as a longer piece. You've got nice rhythm and voice here.
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