on the future:

i don't think that
this is going to take
as much time...

...as we thought.

ca-faces

blinds

prehistoric nuggets

wyoming, minnesota 2006

western civ: draft six

everything closed at nine or ten, even the hundred year old diner that had been open for twenty-four hours back when Teddy Roosevelt was president. we didn't like that much but we made the best of it, hunkering down on a concrete ledge behind a strip mall. we set our coffee and books down on the ground followed by our cigarettes after we slightly lessened the burden borne by the four flimsy cardboard walls surrounding them. we shared a matchbook between the two of us and kept our guns inside our shoulder bags.
our faces washed out in a thin orange haze that came from the lights above the shipping and receiving doors along the walls and the dust and dirt floating around the air. we almost looked sick with jondis. Western Civilization, however, looked no different.
academic pursuits wore out their welcome as cups of coffee became lukewarm, then cold. lighted cigarettes had been a constant all the while. cramming this way had become something of a tradition on nights before exam days.
"hey Chuck, what are you going to do when all this is over and done with?" i asked, breaking our waning concentration.
Chuck lit a match and held it to another cigarette. "i don't know. i was thinking about maybe getting my masters in linguistics, moving to Russia or Israel...something like that."
i leaned against the wall, blinked a few times. smoke stings my eyes.
"yeah?" i asked.
"yeah, i'll need to get out of here by then."
"if you're still alive." i laughed a little after saying that. chuck did too.
"if any of us are still alive by then."
"yeah." i agreed, almost inaudibly.
he started flipping through his textbook and stopped at the map of America right in the center of the book, the one that took up two whole pages.
"how long do you think we can pull this off, keep things going the way they are?"
Chuck pressed the burning ashen end of his cigarette against the page, right on Los Angeles.
"i have no idea." he answered, exhausted.
"yeah, me neither." i said, flicking my cigarette butt away.
“i mean, as long as we don’t get careless…or sloppy –”
“we might be alright.” i finished for him.
“but i can’t keep this up for much longer.” he confessed.
“yeah. i know.”
Chuck closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. i struck another match.

he let the page burn.