Centenary Book Two: Gene, Stories 96 - 100
Gene finds a way to some happiness in these final five 100-word stories from Living Well Towers.
This is it: These five stories are the conclusion of Book Two: Gene in my serial novel “Centenary.” Watch for Book Three: Steve to debut in June. Or, click here to catch up on previous stories in Book Two, or read all of Book One: Go On Down.
96: GENE and STEVE
- Gene senses that you're stuck.
- I’m just fine.
- I have an idea that you can make into your music.
- I d-d-don’t take submissions, Gene.
- I count things. You explore meaning through repetition.
- In part.
- We’re both searching for Truths.
- Mmm.
- The Libretto: STOP, sung nine times, then run-run-run. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
- Why?
- I counted. Three cars run that stop sign for every nine that stop. Lay “run-run-run” over the middle three “STOP”s.
- Is that all?
- The Leitmotif: deconstruct Mark Giuliana’s cover of “Johnny Was,” starting with the drumstick strike on the snare drum rim.
- Why?
- It’s the policeman’s shot.
97: MISTY and GENE
- Where did you get this?
- It’s a print. The original hangs in Musée D’Orsay, where Gene consumed it daily after the settlement. A docent said, it “elevates the common man to royalty.”
- Surprise! I was an art history major. This is Gustave Courbet, 1850. “Burial at Ornans.” Early Realism.
- Did Gene get it right?
- Courbet wrote, “The essence of realism is its negation of the beauty ideal.”
- Courbet also said, “Beauty, like Truth, is relative to the time when one lives and to the individual who can grasp it.”
- This is not a conversation I imagined…
- You, Misty, are beautiful.
98: GENE and MISTY
- Mmmph. What are you doing, Misty?
- Sssh. Just let me kiss you.
- Gene thought…
- Sssh. No more thinking. Kiss me.
- Gene’s lips work, but the main unit is inoperable.
- Stop writing and give me your hands.
-
- Relax, Gene. Here, let me guide you.
-
- I know, but listen to me. I learned this running: Relax, and concentrate. Relax, and concentrate. Let your hands relax. Concentrate on what they feel, on what you feel, on what you’re making me feel.
-
- Yes, Gene, yes, make me feel, you’re making me feel.
- I’m, I’m feeling, Misty. I’m feeling. I’m feeling.
- You, Gene, are beautiful.
99: GENE
Gene’s tongue probes the corners of Gene’s mouth, finds something there, a memory.
That, my friend, is beautiful.
That is the taste of Misty’s kiss, the dark rhubarb of her lipstick snagged on the stubble of Gene’s beard.
Did that happen just last night? Misty kissed Gene?
I kissed her? I kissed her! She kissed me!
She told me that she was feeling.
I told her that I was feeling.
Did I tell her how I feel?
I’ll tell her today, she’s coming back today, two days straight seeing her. She’s coming early, she’s bringing us happiness before Happy Hour.
100: STEVE, The HAPPY HOUR LADIES, and MISTY
- Ladies, why are you just standing outside Gene’s door? Why don’t you go in?
- We tried, Steve, but he’s not answering.
- You can hear the music. He’s ignoring us.
- “Johnny Was.”
- Johnny was what?
- A good man. The music, a jazz cover of Marley’s lament.
- Hello, everybody. Why are we all out here? I know Gene’s excited to host Happy Hour.
- He won’t open the door.
- Here, I have a key.
- Who are you again, dear?
- I’m Misty. Gene’s … helper.
- Gene? We’re coming in. Gene? GENE! Oh, no, no, no. Oh Gene, sweet, sweet Gene. Oh, no, no, no.
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ℹ️ All about Centenary, my serial novel unfolding in 100-word stories from Living Well Towers
🆗 ps - You might like Spilled at the Wine Bar, documenting what I see, hear, and overhear pouring for customers.