Downtown Swans and Other Black Sheep: An Oblong Year

By J. Stephen Jorge

Dedicated to the memory of Richard Swift.
A compressed decade in the life of one unknown author. Fiction bits, essays, poems, interviews and letters form a picture of someone attempting to make things for other people to enjoy. It's a documentary about the overly theatrical. It's the sound of rock and roll when no one is listening.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9781105339943

Book preview

Downtown Swans and Other Black Sheep: An Oblong Year

Downtown Swans and Other Black Sheep

J. Stephen Jorge

JSJORGE.ORG

EPUB Edition

Copyright © 2011 YellowHouseFiction

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-105-33994-3

YHF08

Thanks to Wendy Sepulveda for her technical assistance.

Thanks to J.D. Larson for contributing the back cover story.

Thanks to Madi for lending her paintings, once again.

Thanks to you, the reader, for bringing a sense of humor to the show.

Dedicated to the good friends and associates at these organizations:

Bethel Assembly

CoffeeShopJournal.com

The Cusack Commune

Dragon’s Lair Comics

The Gorilla Theatre

Hillsborough Community College

LifeQuest

Plastiq Musiq

The Refuge @ Joe Mocha’s

Relevant Church

RelevantMagazine.com

The SunSet CanvaS

Southeastern University

Velvet Blue Music

The Well @ Lifespring

During a compressed decade, you helped me find my voice, say what’s written on my heart and then sit down, shut up and listen to the people around me.

You inspired goodness during tough times.

You made me laugh.

Also available from this author and his gang:

C.S. Lewis’ SPIRITS IN BONDAGE on Roosevelt Island

spoken word / performance art

SONS & DAUGHTERS

An Ambient Fiction Album

(featuring the play 1%)

WE WOULD HAVE CHANGED IT

Play Scripts from When We Were Young

febrero

"The show goes on at 11:30. Not because it's ready.

But, because it's 11:30."

Lorne Michaels

Downtown Swans

Recorded live for Madi while walking around the Tampa Museum of Art

Today was the day. Will knew it. He could feel it. The birds sang it to him. Today was the day he was going to meet her. Didn’t know who. Didn’t know when. Didn’t know where or how. But, this was it. He kept repeating this fact to himself all morning long. As he at breakfast. As he showered. As he walked the dog. As he went to work. As he sat in the office.

Jane, on the other side of town, woke up with a strange sensation. An idea, a dream. It kept her up most of the night. She saw a vision, like an angel creeping into her room with a message from ON HIGH. She wasn’t too sure what the message was though. That’s the funny thing about dreams. The more abstract they are, the more they linger. Yet, their very abstraction blurs the mind from understanding. No matter what thought, the dream felt good. She remembered it…as much as she could, anyway.

Will worked through the day, hoping and praying that maybe…maybe in the next instant, in the next moment it would happen…true love would shine! But, the day simply past on. He clocked out, got into his car and began his drive home. Will’s mind began to wander to other things.

Jane went through her day’s normal morning routine: reading each paper she could find, going through each article and then sitting down to write today’s piece. She had chosen a health & wellness focus for her pen.

Will arrived home and figured he was wrong. Today was just another day. Today was just another dollar. So, he reached for the remote. Perhaps some distraction would help. Sigh. But, it gnawed at him. He had done this every evening in recent memory, and nothing about his life deviated from boredom. What if he changed his routine? What if he did something different, something he’s never done before? What would happen?

Jane, after rounding out her day, reached for the telephone. She had promised to call her friend, whose love life was heading south. Jane could see it coming, but like any good friend she chose to wait, feel it out and hope for the best. She knew this call wouldn’t be fun.

Will decided to get back in his car and drive for a while. He wasn’t sure where he wanted to go. He’d seen every inch of this town having lived here for years. So, he just drove: into traffic, out of traffic. He passed by beautiful women and ugly cars.

Jane got a busy signal. Oh well. She tried and would try again later, for sure. But now, she just needed something to keep her mind off healthy food, the war…off of economics, off all the worrisome issues that occupied her mind. She needed to relax. Jane was in a state of half-life. She felt uneasy, always crumpled up. She wanted to stretch out.

Will arrived at his un-chosen destination. As he stepped from his car and walked around, he noticed 10…15 people at least, young and old, just walking around, feeding geese, laughing, hugging.

Jane stayed in for the evening. After all, who would she see? Her relationships were scattered. It was now three long years, since she ended her sabbatical from the dating world. She still had drinks, had lunch…all of the had’s, none of the have’s.

Will watched a little girl, running through the grass just past the lake. She was near enough to feel the water without splashing in it. He smiled. This wasn’t what he was looking for.

Jane walked around the house, hoping she could find the meaning of her dream hiding in a closet or pantry. All she really wanted was some sense of release. After pulling out an old art book from the shelf, she started sketching.

Will stepped back into his car and sat, for hours.

Jane tried to draw objects around the room, still life.  This bored her quickly.

Will looked at his watch every now and then, and wondered just what it was he thought he was accomplishing here. But, he didn’t leave, even after darkness fell.

Jane knew she needed a muse, something a potted plant couldn’t provide. She thought of all the things that used to capture her attention. Back in high school, she would walk down to the lake just to watch the swans swim by. Sweeping up her sketchpad and pen, Jane sped off into the crisp evening air.

Will always thought that one-day; he would fall in love at first sight. He’d see someone and know, really know she was the one. Perhaps this over-romanticized view of love had tampered with his ability to have a normal, sustainable relationship. But, still…he KNEW.  And how can you argue with that?

Jane arrived at the lake, her eyes immediately brighter. She walked around, carefully looking for the perfect view.

Will’s attention was suddenly piqued by this beautiful woman. Where did she come from? She…she had to have just arrived! He’d been here all this time and…there she was! Wow…  He was in awe. He was stunned. He sat very still, in his car.

Jane chose a patch of grass. Her eyes danced around the lake until they found her objects of affection: the swans. She opened her black pad and sketched furiously.

Will took a deep breath. This was it!  He slowly unbuckled his seat belt. He didn’t know why he had buckled in the first place, but it had seemed appropriate at the time. As he stepped from the car, he thought about James Dean and Ewan McGregor: his favorite film stars, the ones who could act cool and suave, but (more importantly) the guys who could be nonchalant, while doing so. He tried to apply their…technique, as he strolled around the lake. Every now and then, he’d catch a glimpse of her and try hard not to stare. She was obviously drawing something.

Jane was at peace, having found her release. Tomorrow might bring all the same difficulties and worldwide frustrations as today; but tonight, she could smile and admire something good. She had no plans of commercializing her creation, which was now nearly done. Her pen had captured the beauty of the swan, at least for a moment. This was enough for Jane.

Will tried to muster up enough courage in his yellow heart, to go talk to her. To introduce himself. To tell her they could be in love. But, he realized how foolish that sounded. So, he just walked.

Jane was packing up her things, for several yawns migrated from her lips now that her inky swans were drying. It was getting late and the younger swans were returning to their families. So, she began the climb to her car; the car she inherited from her mother.

Will’s lack of intestinal fortitude bugged the hell out of him. There she was: the girl of his dreams! She was walking away, back to her automobile. He was never going to see her again. Why couldn’t he command his muscles to move in her direction? Such a coward. Such a failure. He shrugged and headed toward the other side of the parking lot, where his car sat with a smirk. Will was sure this was it. And he had missed it.

Jane arrived home and immediately fell asleep; waking up an hour later, with an odd feeling…a sense of déjà vu. But, it wasn’t a bad feeling. And after pouring herself a drink, she crawled back into bed.

Will was up all night,