Mannequin Envy
a journal of visual and literary arts
Todd Frei
~ fall 2006~
flash fiction:Potential
~ fall 2006~
flash fiction:Potential
| I
currently live in Raleigh, but have aspirations to live in other
places. I have studied English and Philosophy in the past, and am
currently studying Sociology. I've had work published in Baby
Clam Press, The Blotter, and Word Salad. Potential Her shoes were distinct. Sound as tap dancers while she walked on the aged hardwood floor, covered in scuff marks. This I remember. How she said the living room would look comfortable painted a Burnt Sienna or Sequoia Dusk; cover the spider cracks webbing the walls. Would give the room life. I might not have agreed, but she wasn’t asking. She had ideas. I just stood silent as she walked—tap tap tap—though each room. A wood coat rack in the foyer; cherry finish. And a framed Ansel Adams along the hallway, the picture of Bridal Veil Falls from Yosemite. Would look great. Every few minutes continuously giving other suggestions for how the apartment should look. These comments I don’t remember. By this point I wasn’t listening. Then suddenly she walked in, stared at me and said “This place has such potential.” I hate people giving things potential. As though now an object even has the possibility of failure. “I think you should take it.” After we left, a few hours, I called them back and said in a careful voice: I wasn’t at all interested. |