117. Trash

It made no difference, he thought, it was to be his lot. To him the future appeared bleak and these steps weren’t helping the dismal situation he was in. Swimming upstream was becoming an impossibility and he admitted to himself quite frankly that he was drowning no matter what he grabbed onto. It was this change in vision that would give him clarity to divine his ultimate prophecy.

116. Shopping for shoes

It was a favourite. Mother dragged him along guiltily but in truth it was becoming a so-called formative experience. The eye-level examination of all the shiny details was fascinating and the colour would become his palette for years to come. Later when he was asked about his influences, the Construction Worker’s Union would feel uncomfortable hearing the story of the high-heeled shoes.

115. Subway couple

She forgave him. It was what he wanted, needed, to be swept up by arms and emotionally gathered. She could easily compartmentalize his previous actions. It wasn’t that she would let him off, but things would be sincerely different than before. He just didn’t know it yet. The false sense of security lulled him into a comfort that would make the news softer. After all, he had interrupted her coffee run.

114. Curtain

He wouldn’t disturb her. Pretending to be nonchalant he listened intently as she spoke to herself. It was another language, her language, articulated with opinion and reason. Within it she was another person, not just the one he was coming to know and growing to love, but the being she would become, with strength and wisdom. It was her safe spot. So he fought the urge to remind her about the dust under there.

113. Lumix

It had been an extension of him for so long that he had few memories before it. In fact he had spent an excessive amount of time hiding behind it, using it as armor to shield himself from real life, preferring to have experiences peripherally and at a safe distance. Now he put it down and took a slow look around. The color was more saturated then he thought.

112. Traffic

The summer brightness stung him pleasantly. There might have well been a smiley face on the sun because as he looked around he felt like he was in a cartoon, or a musical, when at any given moment the folks on the street would break into song and dance in unison. But his reality wasn’t all tra la la. Idealism is a killer.

111. Mannequins

She stared incredulously wondering who belonged to this tribe. It was bizarre and foreign. It occurred to her that these beings had never ate scavenged leftovers and possibly never ate at all. Sometimes she never ate, but it was not by choice. Pressing her unwashed hair behind her ear and lifting her chin, she tried to feel pretty. It didn’t work. She sank inwards and walked on with her coins jangling in her paper coffee cup.

110. Biker poster

It was destined to be a lifelong distraction. Others thought he was just obsessed, he saw it as passionate. It dictated much of what he would pursue in life, this never-ending examination of hunks of metal and machinery motivated him. In a moment of solitary crisis he would realize it was a poor excuse for not having relationships with people. Luckily he had enough time to make up for that.

109. Apartments

He blamed himself for a vision that had gone so wrong. His intentions had been misguided and he would spend an eternity, that is, his lifetime, trying to right them. Dogged and piqued with ideas, he did his best work from there on in. No praise resulted and few paid notice. He would forever be labeled for the folly of the concrete curtain. The weight of which was unbearable.

108. Factory

He stared as the emotional realization set in. She was an old shell now, this other wife, this other mother, who had deprived him of his father for all those years. It was only now deep in his senility that he looked at him straight on. As a boy when he looked, always in passing, his eyes were glazed over, thinking of the work machine. So this ghastly beast was it. He sighed and continued his work as foreman, setting out the demolition plans.

107. Landscape

He knew better than to have expectations. His mind ran with what his week would hold in this unknown foreign place. He tried to manage the ideal possible scenario but his imagination swung violently against it. To remain open was the guiding advice. The skies had already decided he would never leave this place.

106. Daisy Dukes

It was creativity with a foundation of practicality. The spirit to party freely came first but she never wanted to lose herself completely to it. She had tools to ground herself and she convinced herself that getting swept off her feet was next to impossible. But he stole the reins of control out of her grasp in one fell swoop.

105. Billie Jeans

He didn’t know what to say to him. The fine line between cool and ridiculous had been crossed. Partial relief was there for the remnants he clung to but the rest was utterly cringeworthy. He considered turning around and leaving before he noticed him. Then he decided it was his lot in life to deliver cool to the masses one attitude and one outfit at a time.

104. Leopard Panties

It was her last card. If this didn’t work she would have to take a completely different tact. It had always been the easiest way to get what she wanted. It felt risky as she wondered how complicated he was. Lucky for her it worked. Men are simple, she thought.

103. Liquor Glass

She wanted to admire everything about him. Some quirks she had overcome or learn to minimize. These were the things she thought of when she saw him through other people’s eyes. Unfortunately, her friend’s opinions mattered. She would have to forgive him for adding diet soda to premium liquor.