IGKTW: The Weight of the World (836 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.4 on 27 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Chronic (View user info) at 2006-04-23 17:19:29 EDT
All that was left was a caramel bronze liquid trickling down the wall towards the shards of glass that had once been my finest snifter. I didn't remember throwing it at the wall, or anywhere else, but I suppose it had to have been me. I was sitting alone, sipping spirits in one moment, but then watching the dark seductive fluid dribbling down sheet rock in the next.
A very old Irishman in a bar in South Boston once told me something that I've partially forgotten, but will never fully forget. He told me that the weight of the world can be represented in many ways, in many forms. By the right man in the right moment, it can be suddenly felt in the weight of a woman's love, the weight of a responsibility, the weight of a key to your home, or the weight of a myriad of other things that I can't quite recall. He went on to say that many men will never feel it and others may only feel it once, and just a few may feel it a handful of times. He'd been right about all of them, all the things that can act as the weight of the world, and in these most recent months of my life, I began to feel them all, everywhere I went.
As the mammoth engine turned over in my maroon 69' Caddy, I gave one last short glance at the apartment complex I'd been living in for the last 7 years and couldn't remember it. I couldn't remember anything about it, only the liquid seeking the floor. The car seemed to be handling awful heavy, but the Atlantic's rising sun warmed my spirits. The classic freight-like drive was magnified at every stop and around every turn. I didn't know quite where to run to, not this time, but I knew it was somewhere. I began by wandering the city and slowly making my way towards her. "Her" was her. I won't say that she was the reason for any of this, because she wasn't. Everything was. Everyone was. I was. The chaos of the world was. The pain of humanity was. My job was. The bitch sure didn't help, though. After all we'd been through, to just run away with someone? Especially, to run away with *him*? I could never forgive her, but I needed to say goodbye before I fled from the weight of the world, which I'd been feeling almost constantly in her.
I drove contentedly, arbitrarily, westward...far away from the blazing inferno of their new home. The fuckers had it coming.
I took a drag of my cigarette somewhere outside the city. Something had changed. The weight of the smoke weighed heavily, almost oppressively, on my lungs. I once saw something about the weight of smoke. It stood out in my mind as a bit of a strange concept. The weight of smoke is simply the difference between what you start with and the ash that is left in the end. It's intuitive, even obvious, but one doesn't often consider the weight of something lighter than air. I figure I've smoked a few tons in my life, which probably speaks volumes on its own. All you really need to know is that a few tons of smoke left too much weight on my soul. Each drag I took on the open road felt like the weight of the world sunk deep in my chest.
The beginnings of the West seemed to slip by, with only flashes of overbearing pressure falling on my shoulders. I drove as absentmindedly as possible but the Great Plains of Middle America were wide and clear and left too much room for a restless mind to wander. There was too much space to not find the weight of the world in anything from a stalk of corn to a cue ball in some roadside bar. So much sky weighed heavily on my eyes. So many stars did the same to my mind. The mountains eventually rose in the distance, pleasantly as first, ominous to follow. Through the mountains, the weight was overwhelming. So much strength and stone and history, I suppose. I was almost there...well, here.
I'm perched atop the hood of the ol' Caddy, thoughtfully contemplative, a radio commercial playing in the car for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
...Yeah, I sure got the blues alright.
Thinking back now, overlooking the Pacific sunset, which I don't believe remembers me quite the way I remember it, I have to wonder about that old Irishman. I don't know quite how he had meant it when he spoke to me about the weight of the world, because I suppose he could've meant it to be the best of things, but it never was for me. Either way, he can hardly be blamed. He said he'd never felt it anyway. I wish I could at least tell him he was right, though.
I think I can remember throwing the glass now.
I'm pretty sure I can remember hearing it shatter.
I'm almost positive I remember someone once saying something about how "the weight of a glass can really let you know what's going on."
I'm certain that mine let me know too much that was too heavy.
My .357 seems surprisingly light..
---
Chroniclysmically Conceptualized
User Reviews
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-04-27 13:43:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by LittleMonster (user info) at 2006-04-27 08:37:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Very good - but not really a stlye I enjoy.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2006-04-26 08:30:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This was okay, but not mind-blowingly good. Not as 'bluesy' as I was expecting. Definitely worth the read.
Submitted by Chroniclysm (user info) at 2006-04-25 17:11:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks.
Submitted by gank (user info) at 2006-04-25 16:49:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Feel the weight of this +2.
Submitted by richsghostdog (user info) at 2006-04-25 16:45:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Too much purple prose..whathafa?
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2006-04-25 16:43:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
e
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2006-04-25 16:38:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by Coyote (user info) at 2006-04-25 16:32:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Chroniclysm (user info) at 2006-04-25 16:20:57 (#)
Good luck for the rest of the Comp. Win it. You're capable.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Whatever.
Submitted by Chroniclysm (user info) at 2006-04-24 16:15:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Agreed. Real high quality all-around.
Submitted by Sphagnum (user info) at 2006-04-24 15:16:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Terrific.
These stories are all good.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2006-04-24 12:20:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stuch (user info) at 2006-04-24 10:51:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
....goddamn it.
Submitted by Beano312003 (user info) at 2006-04-24 10:26:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Sorry dude, didn't like this as much as some of the others.
Submitted by Chroniclysm (user info) at 2006-04-24 01:22:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
*applauds Stagger's competition*
Submitted by cascade (user info) at 2006-04-24 00:35:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This has me thinking
" I once saw something about the weight of smoke"
Really enjoyed this piece.
Submitted by recall (user info) at 2006-04-23 23:11:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Beautiful.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-04-23 22:33:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ALRIGHT!
Submitted by goferforhire (user info) at 2006-04-23 20:17:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ba-zing!
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-04-23 20:10:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by goferforhire (user info) at 2006-04-23 19:44:46 (#)
Ranking: 2
This competition makes me wish I could play the guitar. Really badly.
___________________________________________________________
That's how most of us play guitar. Really badly.
Submitted by goferforhire (user info) at 2006-04-23 19:44:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This competition makes me wish I could play the guitar. Really badly.
Submitted by mockidol (user info) at 2006-04-23 18:58:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I tend to just rate and leave "No Comment" or something pointless.
This was too good for that.
Superb.
Submitted by Chroniclysm (user info) at 2006-04-23 18:26:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, this is turning into a great competition. I look forward to seeing how it will turn out.
And thanks, gang.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2006-04-23 18:19:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I loved this. The whole 'weight' theme really strikes a chord, and I was impressed with all the comparisons. It also made for a good thread throughout. Excellent.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-04-23 17:28:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Son, you done got dem blues all backward. You is supposed ta kill
da woman and da man, not yoself. . .
Excellent writing.
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2006-04-23 17:22:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good stuff. This is shaping up to be a very good competition indeed.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-23 17:21:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I wish I could write fiction like this. All I can ever think about is SciFi and jam.
I fucking love SciFi and jam.
Claudia Black covered in jam.....guhhhhhhhh *drools everywhere....EVERYWHERE!*