From the Gazebo | Teen Ink

From the Gazebo

July 5, 2010
By chipsandguacamollie SILVER, Parker, Colorado
chipsandguacamollie SILVER, Parker, Colorado
8 articles 4 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination." - E. E. Cummings


I sit with my back against the wood pole of the gazebo, my legs stretched out along the whitewashed beam that connects the posts. The small structure is empty save for the weeds that crawl across the floor and the lazy moths that flutter through. I gaze out at the field beyond, the vibrant grass moist and slightly overgrown. It swallows your shabby white tennis shoes as your feet pound the ground. It’s almost rhythmic, how you run, a perfect pattern of contracting muscles and heels kicked up.

Though the sky is overcast with wispy grey clouds, you have become annoyed by the muggy heat, and your shirt lies discarded by the side of the field, a sky blue pile of fabric. I can see the dewy sweat drip in rivulets down your shoulder blades, evidence of your physical exertion. It dampens your shaggy hair, turning the dark locks black. You swipe it away, impatient that something so mundane is such a hindrance.

The black and white tiled ball flicks between your feet as you dribble down the field, nearing both the goal and the gazebo from where I watch. Your leg arcs back before the strike, and even though I am no soccer player, I can appreciate the predatory grace of the attack. The ball flies, catching in the center of the loosely woven net. I note a glint of white as a brief grin lifts your features, but it is gone in a flash, replaced by concentration while you retrieve the ball.

Your eyes flit towards me as you finally become aware of my presence. I know that you see me watching you. I know that you’ll never say anything. Your determination, your focus, your vigor; they are all hidden for your eyes only. Your eyes and mine, as you catch my glance.

Am I the only one who has seen your talent? Am I the only one who appreciates your agility, your skill?

I slide off of the gazebo, drawing my perceptive eyes away from your form. I flip closed my notebook, the blank white page I was supposed to fill with words splattered instead with imperceptible observations. You head back down the field, and I head home. I understand your movement, your characteristics, and your form.

Will I ever know your name?



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This article has 4 comments.


on Sep. 5 2010 at 5:54 pm
meganwagner21 PLATINUM, Old Bridge, New Jersey
42 articles 0 photos 139 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sometimes good things have to fall apart so better things can fall together." -Marilyn Monroe
"Nobody can go back and make a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson

wow great piece. very discriptive

on Aug. 23 2010 at 7:40 am
ForeverFelix PLATINUM, Catasauqua, Pennsylvania
30 articles 2 photos 207 comments

Favorite Quote:
Daydreams can be worse than nightmares, but that never stops me.

I love the ending =) and I love how you wrote this in general...it sounds so real, as if its a person musing to herself (which it is, I'd say).

Keep writing!


on Aug. 14 2010 at 8:07 pm
Minderella PLATINUM, Parker, Colorado
21 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
If I tell you I love you can I keep you forever? --Aww. From the movie Casper
Also:
If you live to be 100, I want to live to be 100 minus 1 day so I never have to live a day without you. --Aww again. Of course, that's Whinnie the Pooh for ya!

I really like how you mixed first and second person.  It was great!  And I like how you gave the soccer player determination that could be appreciated by the person watching.  It was nice.

riley... GOLD said...
on Aug. 10 2010 at 1:28 pm
riley... GOLD, Yakima, Washington
13 articles 0 photos 73 comments

Favorite Quote:
"i became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." edgar allen poe.

wow. excellent piece! its a tremendous showcase of your writing talent. if this isnt published in the TI magazine, ill be shocked :)

 

great job. 5/5