Bittersweet Nothings

I dreamed I was Gary Cooper and I was living in Japan. Or at least I was plying my trades there, as an architect and a poetry man. Somewhere 'tween drawing buildings and writing with a feather, I formulated an adhesive that would hold anything together. My Oriental friends were all impressed with me, this glue would serve them well for they had a plan, you'll see. They'd built their buildings to the clouds but wished to add on more. Perhaps with my glue, they reasoned, they could add a few more floors.

So they slathered on the crazy goop and- Huzzah! -added ten more stories! The newspapers and the TV news all heralded my glory. I was fed and feted nightly, just like a movie star; gifted with the city's key and a shining tiny car. Oh, how the people loved me! Me and my gooey stuff. When asked, I drawled, "Aw, shucks... weren't nuthin'.", still, they couldn't get enough!

But soon came the tsunami season that threatened the city's towers. Would my sticky stuff stick still? Or would it fail, underwater for hours? The rain and winds went on for days, a frightful tempest blew! Would the building stand or fall? No one really knew!

The morning after the rain had slackened, a crowd watched from the hill. As the mist slowly cleared away... the building stood straight still! But as one and all stood watching, a gasp came from the throng. The towering top ten stories seemed to... slide... ever... so... slightly... Something was decidedly wrong!

It seemed to take forever, that slipping, sideways slide. The men all stared in disbelief, women fainted, babies cried. Finally the last glue glob gave way and what happened next you know... the top ten stories teetered, tottered, then crashed to the street below!

Happily, the streets were empty, evacuated days before. Or who knows how just many folks who were would be no more?

Suffice to say, the festive air, all the plaudits I'd accepted so coolly, turned sour just like day old milk and the crowd seemed most unruly. Some uttered phrases calling for my public execution, some brandished knife and sword! I exercised the better part of valor then, there was no reasoning with this horde!

I dodged and weaved through alleyways and back streets, running madly! I feared the crowd, for if they caught up, this story might end badly! Finally, my only five true friends saved me from my plight by cramming me into my tiny car and driving off into the night. We stopped but once for pizza( go figure!), delivered to the side of the road, then set off for the airfield to book my long flight home.

The populace wanted my head, it was true, and my friends all thought it best to play the role of one deceased- hidden in a coffin, no less! I said, 'No way, dudes! I'm not getting in that box! Let's just put my name upon it and weight it down with rocks.' I dressed in a flowing purple robe with a hood to hide my face and told the flight attendant, "I'll go with his body to its final resting place."

Now I don't remember taking off or flying overseas, I sure don't know what became of the maddened Japanese. I only know that my career as an architect didn't fly, let's face it, there's no excuse for gluing girders in the sky!

And there you have the dream I dreamed, it makes no sense, I know. At least there were no sharks involved, nor nakedness in the snow. And if I dream again tonight and recall it on the morrow, I'll try to make some better rhymes that cause but lesser sorrow.

The End.

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