The
Most Delicious Thing in the World
The
writer was thinking now furiously about LA. It had been quite
a ragged haul since Stockton, Santa Cruz, Carmel, then Monterey,
San Diego, Big Sur and also Salinas, Lucas Valley and finally
Sausalito. It was like a bread and butter dream as the remains
of more victims were suddenly found in these panhandle buildings
near the vicinity of GROUND ZERO only a few days after the ceremony
marking the end of the final relief effort. Workers found bone
fragments, just a jaw with teeth still intact and pieces of
the rack that once held the luggage from one of those sinister
hijacked planes.
What
was it really all for? The writer asked himself. He was back
on Cloudview Road and people were munching away bagels outside
the Alta Mira hotel. It was a sort of paying crowd that was
just out hitch-hiking for a hot Sunday and it looked like a
bare market these days as groveling starlets greeted the approaching
summer in these off-the-shoulder blouses that glimmered for
a hundred miles. It was all about being sexy without going really
overboard. It was classy to show off skin without any cleavage
whispering too much during this current climate of psychic showers
and thunderstorms.
The
long trek had had its brilliant moments. Hitch-hiking to the
monastery on top of the hill overlooking the blue ocean. Feasting
on Korean kimchi in Carmel, it was certainly yummy. The Tibetan
spare-ribs in the forest and that roaring silence that spilled
through the hidden trees. Yes, there was also evidence now of
these swift hordes of dark, miniature galaxies that possibly
lent credence to the offending theory that the universe was
mostly just comprised of dark, cold matter. " What are
you selling? " The writer then asked the little girl who
stood on Santa Rosa street. " Oh, I'm not selling anything.
I'm just giving away books for free. " The little girl
was holding up a sign and flashing it awkwardly at the speeding
cars. "Do you want some? " She asked quietly. "
Oh. I don't know. " The writer said grimly.
There
had been the usual amount of high-frequency noise, those digital
giveaways and those hungry models in their cheap short skirts
at the computer show only few weeks ago. But less obvious was
whether a clear sign could be seen hinting that the high-tech
sector's anemic recovery would get a significant boost this
brutal year beyond the second-half tick. While three men were
moved suddenly out of that jazzy space station as a new fresh
crew arrived on the shuttle Endeavor. But no one on earth saw
this silly exchange because of the interrupted TV coverage.
It was so sad.
The
little girl then handed a few small books to the writer. "
Maybe you can give them to someone who really needs them. "
she pleaded. " Well, you know I do have a friend in China
who might want them. " The writer then suddenly remembered.
" Does he have any kids in the third grade? " The
little girl asked quickly. " No. Just a baby. " The
writer slowly responded. " Oh
" the little girl
said. " Sausalito was so beautiful as it now shined in
the sun. The forlorn war in Afghanistan seemed very far away.
In the Philippines, too. Also in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir and
New York. " So what's your name? " the writer quietly
asked the little girl. " It's Olivia, " she said.
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