The Raincoats - Red Shoes [mp3]
The computer could only run Windows 95 but he thought it would adequately serve his purposes. He sat on the floor considering geographic options. The table had the advantage of being a table near the window, but that was the only surface available for eating his meals. He drew his gaze from the logical solution and cast his sight across each wall. The room lacked a desk, it should be noted, is why it wasn’t installed in the default location. It should also be noted that the room was the full extent of the apartment. The southwest corner was unoccupied except for a pile of cigarette boxes he was saving for an indeterminate art project. He wasn’t an artist though and he wasn’t feeling particularly charmed so he had already determined to dispose of the boxes to make room for the computer should he decide on that corner. As suddenly as he made that determination, he decided against that location for mysterious reasons. Probably the charm returned to him. The closet was strangely large for an efficiency apartment, possessed an inexplicable window and was largely unused on account of his lack of style. However, he was not at a point in his life where he could feel comfortable writing poetry on an ancient computer in a closet. Later in his life, after years of travel and countless lovers, he would spring at such an opportunity were it to arise simply for the novelty. Girls love novelty and think so much higher of a person if he possesses quirky habits. The kind of girls he preferred especially. That left the southwest corner.
He thought the computer tower looked neat standing freely away from the wall as its own wall boxing the monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers into the corner and so that is how he arranged the equipment on the floor. He powered on the computer and watched the Windows 95 boot process. He was hunched over the peripherals with legs crossed, his left elbow jabbing into his inner knee and his right elbow pivoted to provide the optimal angle for which to maneuver the mouse. Windows 95 was taking a long time to start and his back had already begun to hurt, particularly along the lower spine. He hadn’t owned a computer before and it didn’t seem so absurd to set up the machine on the floor. Now though, he wondered if maybe that wouldn’t really work. Years later, he’d spend hours at a time in a position similar to that required of his first computer, in its first configuration. It was something of a protest and it did wonders for his concentration. He thought for a moment and decided it wouldn’t be so bad to have to move the keyboard out of the way to utilize the table for eating.
The boot process completed, he shut down the computer. He disconnected the components and relocated the computer to the table. The boot process took a very long time once he had reconnected the components and pressed the power button again, but it didn’t take any longer than it had the first time. It’s just, that whole process took a notably long time. He crossed his legs and looked out the window at the gravel alleyway. There was a dark stain in the dirt that was roughly the shape of the state of Georgia. Years later, that stain would remain and he’d imagine while walking across concurrent parking blocks in the lot beside with a feeling of supreme accomplishment at such a feat of continuous balance that the Georgia shaped stain would be his demise one day, that one day it would burst into flames as he passed over it in his car. He would accelerate as the first flames leapt beyond the hood of the car, driving into the street at the end of the alley without first looking to ensure the absence of cross traffic as he turned left toward First Avenue where a car would strike the drivers side window as it raced to make it through a yellow light. Even if it didn’t happen, it would make for an interesting story he thought as the Windows 95 welcome chime rang over the speakers. Of course, he wouldn’t recall that what he imagined later in balance was one of the first stories written on that ancient computer because he couldn’t imagine then the danger a computer placed so near the window faced or how comprehensively his memory would be erased as he placed more and more information into the machine.
The Raincoats are a rhythm and blues band from London. The featured song is from the album Odyshape. Purchase the music at Amazon | Insound | eMusic.
