Coming and Going

(from last semester's writing class)

The spider on the old man's beard was like a frustrated child trying to climb into the kitchen cabinets to grab some sweets his mother wouldn't let him have. Unable to get a firm grip on the long, gray, scrappy beard, the spider kept tumbling down and barely hanging on before trying again to traverse the mighty mountain hanging from the old man's face. I intensely watch the spider repeating the pattern of climbing up and tumbling back down. With every slow rise and quick fall of the spider I’m a little more at ease. The spider distracted me from the words spewing from the old man’s mouth, from my best buddy’s mother crying in the seat next to me, from the incessant ticking ticking ticking of the clock on the grey wall – grey like the man’s beard and the general feeling of gloom over all of us. My buddy’s father paces back and forth in time with the ticking of the clock, like a metronome over the old man’s voice.

The old man just kept ranting. Eventually the spider crawled into his beard and I could no longer see it. I had nothing. I couldn't focus on the spider to keep my mind off the grey and gloom that surrounded me; so I decided to listen:

That's why I singed up! I was bored and I needed money! He chuckled. And I sure knew I didn’t want to go to college. Next thing I knows I’m in a plane on my way to some country I couldn’t pronounce and – My buddy’s dad finally stops pacing and sits next to his wife and they hold each other crying – And that was it! We’re given guns and told to stand guard and – I couldn’t hold it back anymore, I started crying just as hard as my buddy’s parents. His mom handed me a tissue and put her arm around me. The old man just kept talking and his bold, black eyes and his grand grey beard and his chomping mouth seemed to get bigger and bigger and bigger and endless, swallowing the entire room as he kept rambling on and on – But we just had to do it! I tell ya, son, there was nothing else we could do. ‘Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight!’ Just like Robert W. Service said! And then – I couldn’t grasp it, my buddy had been in the service for two years. I can’t even picture him missing a leg – And we had to run, there were explosions everywhere and gunfire and – the door slowly opened and a woman pushed a boy I faintly recognized in a wheel chair. His parents stood up and ran. I looked back at the old man to see the spider had reemerged from his beard. It continued to crawl up the old man’s beard, crawling up and falling back down, until it finally crept its way into the old man’s mouth. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you! I swear to God almighty or whatever ya wanna believe – I couldn’t keep my eyes off the old man anymore. He walked towards me and fell to my knees. In an instant I had completely forgotten about my buddy and the leg he’d lost in battle. Instead I couldn’t help but stare down at the old man as he clawed at my shirt like a frustrated child trying to climb into the kitchen cabinets to grab some sweets his mother wouldn't let him have.