VARVES

Determination was under layers. The oscillating fan was turned on high. There were too many tunes to accompany the loner. And there were no more tunes along the going along a long going. The symbols crashed to the floor making an awful dramatic racket. There was no hole back there. Back there behind the bookcase there was no hole only wall from which crayon drawings have dropped onto dead bugs. Comas punctuated their lives until the reprieves were spliced with scenes from the day to day menu prolonged by excessive quotations. Just saying.

Margant: Exactly.

Looprin: Exactly what?

Margant: How you put it.

Looprin: How I put what?

Margant: What you just said.

Looprin: Are you just saying that to cover the fact you weren’t listening?

What will he say now? Will it entail another form of rationalization, linguistic parry, or focusing her attention on some emotive minutiae? Maybe he will camouflage himself in silence or look helpless and appropriate social cues from their last dog’s terminal illness? Maybe not or perhaps he will choose to walk about the room as he ponders her question only to unintentionally make a conscious effort to smack his shin against the corner of the coffee table. Perhaps or maybe not perhaps with the coffee table being out of reasonable range for extending unintentionality within the bounds of his conscious awareness as far as that goes along with other ongoing investigations along with other goings-on a long going.

Looprin: I’m waiting.

Not on the same page are we? Someone is certainly giving the sheet a deathly glare. Are her nostrils flaring and does that not enhance her facial features featured in his thoughts less as he drains an infected ear only to flush another swatch of blue once a glimpse of one of her eyes along the dripping to the floor mixing with unswept fur along the tile going along with is what it will end up doing and going a long way going along with it all a long going.

Margant: I was just saying.

Looprin: What are you muttering?

What do you know? She’s giving any exit strategy he might try an additional dead bolt. He was beginning to count on any leeway she might inadvertently traject in his direction regardless of her being dead set against it. What do you know? What do they know? They were both dead set against it. Irregardless of whether neither of them or those they lived their lives in reaction to not wanting to end up in any way reminiscent of the people they were refusing to emulate quite intentionally putting out of their minds the very people who would in no way shape or form or mold or fungus or baneful discharge have the most miniscule influence on the patterns the patterns and the patterns stemming from the determination that was under layers outer layers and inner layers along with those ever thinning and thickening patterns associated with patterns patterns of ongoing along with a long going.

Margant: What I meant to say was that I was just thinking about that story about the six monkeys not monkeys giraffes that told the four bankers regarding the article series of articles where they interviewed they being the football players whose coach was caught having not set his recorder to record their most recent game trial where they had to defend themselves against suspicions of foul play a foul smell that neighbors were complaining of what had reminded them of a barbeque they had been invited expelled from which they had been expelling food that was bad meat dead meat dead people who had recently died from ingesting bad meat made of dead people who originally thought they had been dead set against ending up on the menus they had ended up with.

Looprin: You’d think the four bankers would’ve known when to say enough is enough.

Margant: Three bankers now that I lay out the whole thing in front of me.

Looprin: And me.

Margant: And you.

Well, what do you know? What do they know? Now what has become known only just now was that one of the giraffes eight in all two down is all that was managed managing pins out at the bowling alley all day avoiding a day at the office where room was disappearing as entourages moved along going along hour after hour throughout the day avoided at the office where room was disappearing as entourages moved along going along with not enough going along with ongoing investigations the advanced symptoms of audits advancing into the next stage along the later stages of ongoing along with a long going.

Shoes to fill. Bowling shoes. All day avoiding a day at the office where room was disappearing as entourages moved along going along hour after hour bringing their attention focusing their attention on those little marks watermarks that were difficult to adjust their darkness a darkness for hiding information obliterating details not done yet how can it possibly get done soon to get it done eventually if only those benchmarks those little marks on the space in front laying it all out in front of them putting it out there with less room disappearing as entourages and their badges and their shoes to fill. Bowling shoes. Refocusing on the little marks reframing into the next frame after frame haven’t found the little marks there focusing finding the one that worked the last time when was the last time didn’t leave any standing there is still some standing with their badges standing there until they move along with going along with ongoing investigations all day long avoiding the office where room was disappearing as entourages moved along hour after hour bringing their attention focusing their attention on those little marks watermarks that were difficult to adjust their darkness a darkness for hiding information obliterating details not done yet how can it possibly get done soon to get it done eventually if only those benchmarks those little marks on the space in front laying it all out in front of them putting it out there with less room disappearing as entourages and their badges and their shoes to fill.

- Max Stoltenberg