On the Fringes: The Waves

“Kelsey, I am not like you. My life’s led by the passions of now and the monotony of work just isn’t for me”, Mobley shuffled into the rain, raising an umbrella over his crimson head. Kelsey stood in the doorway admiring his redness – his hue an eternal blush, and his heart a fiery blaze. Mobley turned back and locked eyes with Kelsey, extending his umbrella slightly to cover the dead space between the brick storefront and the sidewalk. Offering a curt laugh in apology, Kelsey stepped down into the sanctuary of the translucent covering. Cinnamon was still on Mobley’s breath, and the smell melted Kelsey’s heart as they turned back towards for whence, they came. He’s one to talk about monotony, they thought, after all I know no one else that has such a rapid and persistent rhythm. As the space between the two warmed, and they watched Mobley silently, Kelsey thought, this is why I have friends.

He sat plumply, soaked by the winter drizzle. These two walking by must be kindhearted, he thought, look at how they hold each other. Oh, how desperately he wanted to be held. Almost instantly his legs inched towards them, but he felt a leathery surface slip underneath, and promptly sat back down. “Protect,” this was the only thing he’d been instructed to do. The one on the right has darker shades on because they think it illustrates how deep they are, and the one holding the umbrella must’ve recently cut their hair because that fade is too fresh! They’re probably off to somewhere warm and balanced. Ahhh, and somewhere with lots of room to stretch out and yawn comfortably! The cold was rather new to him. He was familiar with wetness in all its moderations: dampness, dripping sweatiness, stale unpleasantness, even splashing pleasure-ness. But this cold wetness wasn’t something enjoyable or fleeting, it was only something- ACK! What is THAT?! A slender hand had reached its cold touch down his spine. He let out a yowl and leapt around to face the culprit.

They noticed the dark mass of fur when it suddenly yowled and turned towards the arching greenery right behind the bench it sat on. It raised on its hind paws to swat at the plants, the two friends looked on in bewilderment and then began cooing as they walked closer to the scene. Arriving at the bench, they looked at each other with glee, obviously on the same page, and Mobley reached down to pick up the rain-soaked cat. “Careful, it might have rabies”, Kelsey said gently. They didn’t seem to actually care, because they reached out their hand to pet the shivering animal on its pitiful head. A few moments passed as the two stood huddled underneath the plastic barrier, blocking the winter drizzle from further harming their newfound friend. The cat relaxed into a wet puddle of hair in Mobley’s arms, and began purring as Kelsey gently scratched his ears. If heaven were a place, these two would surely hold the keys to enter, the cat thought to himself. As they began to turn towards the street, Kelsey bent down to pick up a small leatherbound book. The cover was slightly carpeted in water droplets and follicles of the cat’s fur. Kelsey wondered who had left the notebook there. Mobley nudged her, “You ready?” he said, looking intently. “Oh, yeah, just this notebook was underneath our friend here. Curious…”

“I don’t know Mobley… The way you’re holding mister stinky paws over here, I could be convinced that you like monotony. At least the monotony of love,” Kelsey settled deeply into the blue loveseat. Mobley smirked, staring intently at the feline wrapped in a damp towel. “Should we use the hair dryer on him?”, he said. “Nah, I think cats hate loud noises,” Kelsey pressed a button on the remote and soft lo-fi beats began to play out of Mobley’s sound bar. The rain flowed over the foggy glass windows, and the candlelight flickered almost in time with the back and forth of the cat’s tail. Seriously, it was chill vibes on ten. Mobley’s chest rose and fell slowly as he looked around his apartment. The walls were a light cream color, not his choice, but he always liked the way cream walls looked under warm lighting. See, this is what that post was talking about: being satisfied with what is, and not waiting to enjoy life, he turned to look at Kelsey welcoming the cat into her lap, And it’s even better with good company. The cat’s coat was rather shiny, and from holding it earlier, Mobley could tell the fur greatly exaggerated the cat’s size. Turning to face Mobley, the cat’s eyes twinkled a deep yellow with glints of green speckles, almost like a kaleidoscope. Has to be an alien, Mobley thought. He wasn’t sure if it was just the low lighting or his overactive imagination, but as he stared deeply at the feline, he swore he saw similar explosions of color in the cat’s fur.

-His Story-

“Mobley!” Kelsey popped Mobley on his folded arms with the leatherbound notebook. Stirred from his half-sleep trance, Mobley looked around to find all but a sole candle on the kitchen counter, had gone out and his feline friend sat next to it staring directly at him. “Mobley, did you hear what I just read?” Kelsey stared intently at their friend, too excited to notice his incoherence. They flipped through the leatherbound notebook, holding their breath in anticipation. Mobley watched as they stopped at a page and brushed over something inside. “Mobley… this is a major historical find! I mean honestly, I am very surprised to have found this, and with El Gato over there, no less!” Mobley leaned forward to look at what was in the book, as Kelsey smiled at the cat staring intently from the counter. Mobley’s nose was greeted with the smell of old paper, and his eyes met with the upside-down gaze of an unsmiling man. Mobley was frozen for a second, transfixed by the sonder emanating from the photo. The gaze was so familiar, etched into his brain from the countless times he stood in the mirror studying his own ocular galaxies. Kelsey touched his nose, and he looked up to see their wildly excited grin. Mobley couldn’t help but smile meeting their eyes.

Kelsey read aloud: “My dearest journal, I sat at the foot of giants today. Our Mother, she, a golden goose with no need for the egg, was the patron of this gathering and as such saw each guest in. At 4am, exactly four hours from my departure, I steeped myself in pine needles, oiled with infused rose oil, and shaved my face clean. She smiled at my efforts, so I felt I succeeded. I was right. The gates were opened, and from inside, the sound of childish laughter echoed out. A master’s arena! Journal, I’ve always dreamed of appearing in one! Surrounded by the gleaming jewels of society… and me, one of them! Stepping past the threshold, I was filled with such excitement to write within you the peculiarities of my marvelous time. Of course, I needed to enjoy it first. OK so, there were princes, officials, your typical high society, “I tell people what to do” men. There were artists, of course. There were designers and faith workers. I mean there were just so many people, I could hardly talk to all of them. Actually, I spent most of my time eavesdropping on conversations whilst waiting for someone actually interesting to talk to. And someone did appear. But before I get to that I want to write this… if ANYONE (and I do mean anyone; even if you don’t agree with what is written here), happens to find this and I haven’t published it already, please tell the world what I heard in a conversation between what appeared to be two princes. One of them simply said: “I have no interest in living. I actually would rather die. Life is so tiresome and dramatic; I couldn’t possibly trust myself to continue if I wasn’t as comfortable as I am.” The other prince bellowed with laughter, I wasn’t sure if he found it truly amusing or if it was just an effect of the aphrodisiacs floating in the air. Anyways, after collecting himself, his voice grew quiet, and he almost whispered: “To tell you the truth, I am deafly afraid of living, so much so that I just do as I please as a courtesy to others. To help them… well you know what I mean.” It took me a second, but I too understood what he meant… Maybe people aren’t meant to decipher their lives in a simple plan. Maybe we ought to brandish our wings and just go out and try something. These two well off men born into high positions of power, they don’t seem to know what they’re doing either. And to think I just so happened to recently become quite wealthy myself. Why just 2 weeks ago I was fashioning my own notebook because I could not afford to buy one from the bookstore. So, with that, journal, I must tell you, how happy I am to know that I am not the only one scared shitless! HA! Our Mother, bless her soul, was charmingly handsome today. The poise, the ease, the kindhearted aura, and her sincere truths, this is why I tried to become one of her jewels. For the money and access of course, but really for her. Our Mother is a classic. She taught the truth to the Seers, and she is the Final Answer. O, Our Mother, would you bless me if I were to give everything for you? I know she would… she already has.”

Kelsey looked up from the pages as Mobley sniffled and wiped tears from his eyes. Why do we do that, they wondered, why wipe the tears away? They’re already falling from our eyes. Mobley had begun silently crying while listening to the author’s description of the princes’ conversation. “It wasn’t even eloquent Mobley! We don’t even know if it’s a beautiful story yet, that’s just the first two pages! Why are you crying?!” Kelsey and Mobley chuckled as Mobley mashed his flustered face. “Ahhh! Kelsey, it’s just… damn! This world, this existence, my life! It’s all been circulating in my head for years now. After graduating uni, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life, and thank God, there’s so much of it to live, but where am I going? What are we – what am I doing in my little ass apartment listening to some story in a random leatherbound book? Will we get millions of dollars and become famous anthropologist? Who the fuck knows? Cause I sure don’t! This is what I meant Kelsey! I don’t have any idea what I am doing, and this book, whoever the author is, just said that even princes don’t know what they’re doing. But yet, they’re born into a life of luxury, and don’t worry about where their next meal comes from. How can that be fair Kelsey?”

Kelsey placed the leatherbound book on the edge of the loveseat, and crept closer to Mobley, extending their arms out in acceptance. Mobley was a mess. Tears streamed down his face, his body shuddered with each breath, and Kelsey felt a wave of respect surge throughout their body. This man they’ve known since their junior year, wasn’t your typical loser or inept conman, but a genuine, try-hard genius. Kelsey had witnessed him overcome obstacle after obstacle despite his own doubts. They watched him evolve from an overconfident coward to a bright, empathetic environmentalist. And yet, here he was shaking in Kelsey’s arms just like El Gato in the freezing rain.