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“Friday Night”
She needed to be
wanted
be a gear
in someone’s life
they couldn’t
live without
but she wasn’t
the few friends
she had
on speed dial
well
she knew
she placed way
down
on their personal
friendship list
she had
a couple of
boyfriends
but she might
have just stuck
that boyfriend
tag
on the guys
she dated
more than a
few times
just so she
could use the
word boyfriend
in casual conversation
but should it
really be
classified as a
break-up
when someone
just quits calling
you back,
she wondered
what it was like
to have a guy
begging
for you to
just stay on
the phone
a little longer
just so he can
hear your voice
or want to
come over
and watch a movie
even one of those
romantic comedies
you love
because the thought
of you sitting
close to him
on the couch
was all he really
needed,
those types of
moments
seem so foreign
to her
did such things
really happen
or were they just
storyboard scenes
from one of her
movies
she too frequently
watched at home
alone,
she thought
about that
as she put a
t.v. dinner
in the microwave
salisbury steak
with a 2-inch
square dark cake
of some sort
she never ate
the vegetables
they always
came out dry
and shriveled up
anyways
she stood by
the microwave
waiting for the
ding of dinner
a plastic fork
in her right hand
a t.v. remote
in her left
she looks over
at the t.v.
aims the remote
and starts scanning
through the channels
hoping to run across
something
that will kill
two-hours
of a slow moving
Friday night,
the phone rings
right as the
microwave bell
calls out dinner
she looks at
the phone
then the microwave
nothing worse than
cold salisbury steak
the gravy starts to
coagulate
and the dark
cake thing
gets hard
still
she doesn’t get
all that many
calls
she takes chance
and grabs the
phone
the voice
on the other side
is friendly
engaging
and most importantly
male
it takes her
a good five minutes
of back and forth
before she realizes
he’s just trying to
sell her something
when she politely
hangs-up
walks over to
the microwave
grabs the salisbury steak
dinner
and throws it
in the trash
opens the refrigerator
pulls out a box
of Chablis wine
grabs a glass
and holds in
the stopper
on the boxed wine
till her glass
is filled up
looks at the
box of wine
and jokes to
nobody there
at least it’s
a square meal
she thought it
was funny,
she takes her
full glass of wine
and settles in
to her chair
and decides on
a saved movie
one of her favorite
romantic comedies
only one
of the many
that she has
watched
over and over
again
her movies
have become
like old friends
she calls on
the right one
to match her
mood
she’s half-way
through
her first glass
of wine
as the opening
scene
rolls across
the screen
she gets a
feeling of
familiar comfort
as she mouths
the words
right along
with the movie
she slips into
the body of the
leading lady
and for the
next hour and
forty five minutes
she enjoys a
celluloid relationship
she had gone
back to that
box of Chablis
more than a
few times
she has tomorrow
off
thinks about
another movie
but decides to
take her glass
out on to the
balcony instead
she always liked
gazing out at
the lights
of the city
she didn’t have
a great view
but still
plenty of different
glowing hues
for her to
get lost in
so her mind
could escape
into the night
at least for
a little while,
she follows
a young man
with her eyes
as he walks
his dog
around the block
she pictures
herself
walking with
him
neither really
saying
all that much
both
just content
to be in each
others company
as their little
dog
would lead them
from bush
to bush
as they make
their way along
the sidewalk,
her eyes
break-away
traveling through
the colored lights
of the skyline
drawn towards
the well lit
empty offices
of a nearby
building
she can see
a lone woman
sitting at a desk
working on the
15th floor
she wonders
if the woman
has a man
waiting for her
at home
or a bunch of
friends
texting her
to hurry up
and get to
the party
because
without her
it’s just not
a party
or maybe
she’s stalling
not wanting to
go back to a
lonely apartment
has a salisbury steak
of her own
in the company
break room
2-minutes out
from the final
bell,
she is taken
from that neatly
framed scene
to a loud
chaotic
group of girls
stumbling
laughing
and she thinks
singing
but then
right in the
middle
of their chaos
is a moment
of clarity
as all five
girls
start to sing
Kim Wilde’s
“Kids in America”
word for word
in amazing form
something about
five female voices
in the perfect pitch
of youth
that sparked
a fire
inside of her
she joins in
with them
the words
she forgot
she knew
flowing in sync
with the girls
her voice
and body
brimming with
energy
she can’t help
from dancing
around the
balcony
in till the voices
of the girls
fade,
she settles down
leans on the
railing
as she catches
her breath
remembering
how much
she use to
love
singing and
dancing
in her bedroom
as a kid
a world of
possibilities
laid out in
front of her
all open to her
before the road
of life
begun to narrow
and all those
possibilities
started to drop
off
one by one
like passing exits
till they became
farther and farther
apart,
she loses herself
in a world of
reflection
as more city
lights
flicker on
blotting out
the summer stars
as they create
an urban rainbow
she steps back
from the rail
and sits down
on a well faded
patio chair
unaware of
anything around
her
except for the
lights
and the passing
road signs
in her mind
as she tries
to figure out
which exit
she should have
gotten off on…
Tom Allen…10-13-2017…