"...because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles..."

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Traveler


The best part of my day got a little better today. My lovely friend Jordan stopped by my room right after I ran. Firstly, it's always great to see her face. Secondly, it's always wonderful to hear her thoughts and her heart. She came in and handed me a book, she told me it made her think of me. After she left, I read it. It's a deep little story, thoughtful and simple. The sketches are mostly done in black, gray and white, leaving only Charlie, the protagonist to carry the color. I just want to share my favorite parts.

Charlie seeks excitement, he wants to see the world. So he grabs a suitcase- and he packs up all his time.
"And pack up his time he did:
starting with his big, bulky decades,
then the round, squishy years,
the square, mushy months,
triangular, shiny weeks,
and raggedy days,
tons of silky, smooth hours
and crumpled-up minutes.
Charlie squeezed in loads of itsy-bitsy seconds for the journey,
too, even though they didn't seem to want to go."

In the end, after he's seen the world- the woods, the desert, the ocean; heard the languages and passed by all of the sites, none of them making him happy- he goes home, lonely. He realizes this is where he wants to spend his decades and years. But he finds he couldn't save his packed time. With one square, mushy month left, Charlie spends it with the prettiest girl he ever knew and the friends she brought him to.
"And as Charlie spent his final itsy-bitsy
seconds on his friends,
he was loved.
He loved.
It may not have been perfect,


but he was happy."

"Life is a journey..."

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