rain

All the roads are wet and all the lights are bouncing off the water and the lines in the street are hidden underneath it all. This city isn’t made for rain. All the cars on the road, they’re going slower than normal and nobody is honking. In the gutters and the crosswalks, water is building up and the sewers are already overflowing and it’s impossible to tell where each street begins. All the cars are using headlights and their wipers are going too fast and the drivers of the slow cars are leaning closer to the road trying to see what lane they are in.

famous

In her head she’s Danica McKeller, she’s Jodie Sweetin. This girl with the skirt and the strut and the clutch, in her head, she’s somebody who used to be somebody. She’s important. This girl and her dog and her makeup, she wants people to look at her. She wants people to want to know who she is. In her head, she’s already been famous.

strangers

Inside everybody are strangers. All these strangers, they’re all already friends. They’re walking and laughing and never once have to look where they’re going. Inside, all of a sudden, it’s 6th grade. All of sudden you’re the new kid again and all these strangers know it. They’re peeking the way you would peek in a doctor’s waiting room. The way you think nobody can notice you doing it. Inside they’re glancing up from their magazines, they’re whispering to their friends, each of them, wondering what kind of disease you have or checkup you need.

unseasonable

Outside, nobody realizes that it’s winter. It’s sunny and warm and nobody is wearing a jacket. Outside, nobody is thinking about their hometown and the snow it’s getting. Nobody is worried about their morning commute. Nobody wonders if school will be canceled. Nobody checked the weather. Outside, people are in sunglasses and shorts and nobody cares what month it is.

priority

Now the only thing that matters is your parking spot.

drive

Every drive is an hour backwards. Every state line, every welcome to, there’s a chance of living that hour over again. Every day in the car you move further into the past. All those hours you’ve gained, those are hours to do whatever you want. Those are your chance to see a movie, your chance to read a book, your chance to sleep. Those free hours, those are yours.