The ice on the bridge had been melted by salt so that our automobile could proceed without anxiety. This was comforting. Others were taking advantage of the unslippery conditions as well driving towards their destinations. Earlier, while out on the balcony, staring at an artificial hedge, I noticed several groups of cranberries attached in conical formations to external natural boughs. If they had been real and possessed scent, perhaps I could have smelt them. I could smell the pine and the memory of its refreshing fragrance aligned my eyes with the road. In front, a license plate from Louisiana, beside, more cars.

The sun was shining moderately that day earlier intermittently shooting through the clouds as if to suggest that my boots required a fresh coating of mink oil. I was packing my bags when he struck up a conversation regarding alcoholism and the problems he was having with it. I like to listen, so I listened. This created a somewhat tranquil atmosphere insofar as it appeared that in many of his conversations people did not listen for extended periods. I did need to get back to work as did he but we were in the middle of a clear cut relatively unsupervised. His story was sad, full of blackouts and attempted sobraic reconciliations. When he finished I returned to work as did he, the clouds continuing to slowly drift by.

In the passenger seat her sultry glasses were comfortably imprisoning her rufous eyes behind bold parallelograms situated within a glistening jade frame. I couldn't bear to look, each glance evanescent, each impression, eternal. She was discussing a group of three girls she'd observed in a cafeteria the previous afternoon while concentrating more seriously on the aroma than the taste of her coffee. One had a p____ bag. She couldn't figure out where to go on vacation: Australia, Japan, or Colorado. She invited her friends to come along but they hadn't the time. Most of my travels had been work related: exciting but lacking in typical vacationary distinctions. The car was my brother's and the jade glasses cost me my summer bonus. They were quite light weight. Think she went to Indonesia. Neither of us cared.

Had finished school, needed work. Liked working, things are better with work, paid work, for the obtaining of products and the securing of lodging. Could work. Could work long hours, anytime really, was flexible, agreeable. The car was almost out of gas as we turned right at the fork. I clutched the wheel with my hands and quickly glanced at the outside temperature: cold, it was cold out there, more than chilly, cold. Warm in the car though, the heater being on, low, the car already having heated up; her glasses were designed so that in circumstances of intense heat the lenses would react iridescently: there was still a slight primrose glow resisting its impulse to transform into dandelion, then lime. We had Groupo Fantasma on the stereo, their energetic beats and impassioned lyrics accentuating the vehicle's motion. Passed the building of several different designs on the right, part church, tenement, with commercial space. I thought of the enormous ceilings at the BANQ and the ways in which their magnificent heights encouraged free thought and understanding: wished I was there, reading.

"The wheels are spinning like ceiling fans and it's like we're driving through a chalet."
"I turned the heat down."
"That was my plan."
"Where there's a will . . . "
"there's a four-way split."

I had sliced two pieces of banana into my mug of black tea to permanently steep the potassium that morning. Figured that would happen anyways. My joints cramp up when I play soccer. Tasted good, like regular tea, with banana. My pet guinea pig squealed when I opened the fridge being aware that it contained lettuce. Named Chester. Would like to have a bunch, sit back, open the fridge, listen to the squeaking.

On the back seat rested a parcel we'd picked up at Throthmire's that was to be delivered after the application of a ribbon. My body rested in the cushiony seat as we drove along. We liked to make our own constellations by recasting traditional horoscope figures in a different light. Mixed and matched meanings. The salt had become more organic after the application of beet root. Smelt like heavily salted borscht.