Between Thoughts
KAISERSLAUTERN GERMANY
Under the shadow of the church we sit at a cafe where the atmosphere looks good and there is a breeze in the air and the clouds rush by the moon in the night sky.
People are darting around outside and I think to myself that it's about to rain.
She is to my left, at the table, and says she only wants a drink, but instead orders food.
I'd be happy with just a drink. It'd be enough to sit and get a buzz and listen to her talk and probably tune out for the duration it takes to drink a drink. I order food, too, becuase I'd hate to get hungry watching her eat.
It's rude to watch people eat anyways, I think.
Our table is the only one that doesn't have our candle lit.
The light in the cafe is dark. I look outside the window.
The church by the cafe is in the middle of a three-way fork of the alleys in the old part of town. Kaiserslautern is quaint, I think. Sexy. Very European.
But at the same time easy and cheap and as I think that she says something.
I don't listen. I'm looking at the church and how it reaches into the black night sky. There are those soft yellow street lights dotting it's side, and a big tree next to it.
I hate the way trees look at night, when street lights are shinning on them. Dark green shimmering with orange. Looks disgusting.
My drink comes and I drink as she talks.
On the church wall a sign is hung that says "Thank God It's Sunday" in German.
I think to myself that it's Monday and I usually hate Mondays.
She asks if it's OK to smoke and I say yes because even if I had said no it would have made no difference because as she asked she was already smoking.
It's rude to make someone put out their cigarette, I tell myself. She blows a cloud out from her lips and it envelops us.
As I drink she keeps asking me questions about where I'm from and where I've been and what I like to do and if I like doing what I do. I answer her questions looking off to the side, not really looking at her face, as it would be polite to do, but starring off at the alley and starrig at the long shadows made by the church in the street lights and watching people as thet dart by.
The Church is jagged in the orange light. Is it late medieval architecture, I think?
People scamper back and forth in the alley. I notice that the ground is wet outside.
She talks more. I don't really field questions. When the food comes she makes room on her side of the table by moving her effects on my side and, becuase it is polite when you are with a lady, I move my things farther away from me.
She talks with her mouth full as she eats.
The rain gets stronger.
I remember that I hate driving at night in the rain in Germany and suddenly want to get up and leave.
I drink. I have bannana flavored beer. It doesn't taste exotic.
I look at the church. It looks sinister at night, in the rain, with the orange light. Late medieval and sinister.
It's really been a bad day, I think, and am happy for the drink. And as I sip I wonder how I could have screwed so many things up and as I think I sip and the sips last longer and I'm thinking about the church and how I wish it was Sunday, but that it's only Monday and there are people outside and they are in the rain and they are laughing.
She asks a dumb questions and pretends to be amused at my answer and I think that she really is a Kaiserslautern girl and I really like Kaiserslautern for what it is, but not those kind of girls.
How many days til the weekend? Maybe then things will change. I think about my day and it's been a bad day. I drink.
Rain starts falling harder.
I finish my food. I finish my drink. I'd have another, but my keys are jabbing my leg.
The cheap date ends when I say I have to get going.
She asks if I can walk her back to her car, because that would, of course, be polite of me.
I say yes.
I want to just leave her in one of the dark alley's where she belongs.
She picks up on it. She asks me more questions. Asks me if I like what I do.
I say yes.
I feel, I think, that I'm reading a novel as we get to her car.
The rain and the shadows and the bad girl and the guy and the night covering all of it.
This novel I'd throw away.
Six days til Sunday.
I wonder if God ever thought that.
Under the shadow of the church we sit at a cafe where the atmosphere looks good and there is a breeze in the air and the clouds rush by the moon in the night sky.
People are darting around outside and I think to myself that it's about to rain.
She is to my left, at the table, and says she only wants a drink, but instead orders food.
I'd be happy with just a drink. It'd be enough to sit and get a buzz and listen to her talk and probably tune out for the duration it takes to drink a drink. I order food, too, becuase I'd hate to get hungry watching her eat.
It's rude to watch people eat anyways, I think.
Our table is the only one that doesn't have our candle lit.
The light in the cafe is dark. I look outside the window.
The church by the cafe is in the middle of a three-way fork of the alleys in the old part of town. Kaiserslautern is quaint, I think. Sexy. Very European.
But at the same time easy and cheap and as I think that she says something.
I don't listen. I'm looking at the church and how it reaches into the black night sky. There are those soft yellow street lights dotting it's side, and a big tree next to it.
I hate the way trees look at night, when street lights are shinning on them. Dark green shimmering with orange. Looks disgusting.
My drink comes and I drink as she talks.
On the church wall a sign is hung that says "Thank God It's Sunday" in German.
I think to myself that it's Monday and I usually hate Mondays.
She asks if it's OK to smoke and I say yes because even if I had said no it would have made no difference because as she asked she was already smoking.
It's rude to make someone put out their cigarette, I tell myself. She blows a cloud out from her lips and it envelops us.
As I drink she keeps asking me questions about where I'm from and where I've been and what I like to do and if I like doing what I do. I answer her questions looking off to the side, not really looking at her face, as it would be polite to do, but starring off at the alley and starrig at the long shadows made by the church in the street lights and watching people as thet dart by.
The Church is jagged in the orange light. Is it late medieval architecture, I think?
People scamper back and forth in the alley. I notice that the ground is wet outside.
She talks more. I don't really field questions. When the food comes she makes room on her side of the table by moving her effects on my side and, becuase it is polite when you are with a lady, I move my things farther away from me.
She talks with her mouth full as she eats.
The rain gets stronger.
I remember that I hate driving at night in the rain in Germany and suddenly want to get up and leave.
I drink. I have bannana flavored beer. It doesn't taste exotic.
I look at the church. It looks sinister at night, in the rain, with the orange light. Late medieval and sinister.
It's really been a bad day, I think, and am happy for the drink. And as I sip I wonder how I could have screwed so many things up and as I think I sip and the sips last longer and I'm thinking about the church and how I wish it was Sunday, but that it's only Monday and there are people outside and they are in the rain and they are laughing.
She asks a dumb questions and pretends to be amused at my answer and I think that she really is a Kaiserslautern girl and I really like Kaiserslautern for what it is, but not those kind of girls.
How many days til the weekend? Maybe then things will change. I think about my day and it's been a bad day. I drink.
Rain starts falling harder.
I finish my food. I finish my drink. I'd have another, but my keys are jabbing my leg.
The cheap date ends when I say I have to get going.
She asks if I can walk her back to her car, because that would, of course, be polite of me.
I say yes.
I want to just leave her in one of the dark alley's where she belongs.
She picks up on it. She asks me more questions. Asks me if I like what I do.
I say yes.
I feel, I think, that I'm reading a novel as we get to her car.
The rain and the shadows and the bad girl and the guy and the night covering all of it.
This novel I'd throw away.
Six days til Sunday.
I wonder if God ever thought that.
posted by Chris Miles at 6:38 PM
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