that is funny, eduardo exclaimed spontaneously.
francine, an aggressively youthful person, disagreed.
it was a glorious morning, with a forecast of heavy rain in the afternoon.
none of them would ever be quite so young again.
the morning, and the days that preceded it, had been curiously repetitive.
gabriel had fond memories of more judicious days.
obsolescence was in the air
you think it is funny, don’t you, imogene suddenly challenged eduardo
it is funny, gabriel came quickly to eduardo’s defense.
imogene subsided meekly, and the morning proceeded apace.
night finally arrived.
after innumerable delays and debates, and in the end nothing was agreed upon.
i agree to whatever you all agree upon, eduardo declared wearily.
but it is all rubbish, gabriel exclaimed exasperatedly.
let us go over it all again, point by point, one last time. imogene said wearily.
francine laughed, the notes of their laughter spilling out infinitely over the darkened meadow,
the night itself remained implacably silent.
we will never achieve glory,eduardo blurted out.
curiously enough,francine quietly nodded agreement.
the group stopped talking, and each member looked at the sky.
which contained no stars, innumerable as they supposedly were.
they would never again have quite the same discussions.
eduardo and imogene began collecting the empty bottles and putting them in gabriel’s basket.
in the distance, a car backfired and a wolf howled.
i will remember all this fondly francine thought melancholily, when i am 120 years old.
much the same thought occurred to the wolf howling in the night,
the driver of the car backfiring in the distance laughed heartily.
but he had a primitive sense of humor, and laughed easily.
good night.
