Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Wakefield Doctrine’s contribution to the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Denise is the host.
The prompt word:
CANVAS
Life, it has been said, is the blank canvas of a talented but immature god, beauty layered over pain, an opaque complexity that patrons seem to find irresistible. (unknown)
“What the fuck”, seeing the Beanie and Cecil shadow sliding up the street in his direction, pushed the young man into motion, a stuttering run caused by staring at his left wrist while moving fingers in a chaotic, but deliberate manner; that he no longer walked across the quad of his college was unimportant, getting away from his pursuer while wearing a heavy overcoat in 36° C was; a double-twist of his index finger ended his growing regret at accepting a job at a small café in the city he spent his sophomore year.
“Jeez Louise, dude, relax,” rhetorical admonitions, coming from a place so close to home, always lack a certain power; recognizing the casino in the distance, his confidence grew as he found he could ignore the cars speeding past at well-above the posted 90 km/h limits; a memory scene, super-imposed over the 21st century skyline, of standing before a bearded man in a down-city bar that appeared out of nowhere, insisting on being given a part-time job, the sky blinked.
Jumping up off the cobblestone street, barely avoiding the dark, gray Audi traveling at the speed-of-unobstructed, the young man in the old coat, sat at the sole empty table in front of a coffee shop; the temperature was more appropriate to his dress, but the buildings were too low and the trees too green, “Come on now, you can do this,” searching the street for suspicious shadows, he remembered the confident man who, while he was asking for the job, interrupted, ‘Sure, Nick, he looks like he’ll fit right in”; without thought, his fingers moved again.
Seeing the white canvas canopy, wine-and-bus-diesel air corrugating his nose, a sense of relief slowed his breathing almost to normal, until a memory montage seized his visual cortex. The woman who sat alone, in the second darkest spot in the Bistro, exhibited the serene concentration common to young mothers and old martial arts instructors; demonstrating the complex hand motions involved in accessing the google-verse, she smiled at his frustration, “Think of it as partly a dance and, in a very real sense, a prayer; to draw on your musical training, imagine your hands hovering over the keyboard of a piano”, the young man beamed in an unaffected display of pleasure at her reference to one of few things about himself he imagined deserved pride, “…but the keys are all floating in the air and get close only when you can hear the song in your head.”
“Thank God!” spotting the blurred section of the city block fifteen feet ahead on the right, the young man dove without hesitation into the two dimensional chaos, long blond hair and trailing overcoat pulling the brick wall together behind them, half-a-heartbeat before the tall, serpentine shadow of a google street monitor could capture his presence; “…almost home!”
About clarkscottroger
you’re making me think so early in the am. James would be proud, much packed into this.
thanks Paul
Your six allows the reader to paint their own canvas using the images of your six. I also loved the pictures in the six.
Ominous description: “the sky blinked”. The thought of “bus-diesel” reminded me of days I spent in Mexico. Although it is very unlikely, that corner bistro with the white canvas canopy reminds me of a place I once visited for lunch.
thank god for the internet and it’s near-endless supply of images
Clear as mud! A compliment for a very complex set of ideas.
thank you. M
Some strong C.Nolan vibes building up!
Brilliant!!
Thanks, man.
Probably should continue over at the Bistro thread, but this week’s Six was, for me, a classic, “OK, sounds like a cool idea. Can you pull it off?”
as a matter of fact, I think I will… too noisy out here to hear myself type… see you at the T.
Thank you, Spira! Similar reaction. Tres cool Six, Clark.
[I was imagining the Google Maps as its own (obvious) portal with a little “Gateway to the Past”
(Star Trek) thrown in for nostalgia’s sake, lol.]
damn! speaking of ‘Roadmarks'(R Zelazny) I know I point out a google streetview transition I found when working on ‘Home and Heart’. totally throws a body back in theys chair.
One of my favorite books! Good writer, Mr. Z.
I found out recently that Google maps on desktop has a history option where you can see the location you choose in past years; so, there is your portal!
And to top things up, I’ m off to watch The Adam Project.. happy time travels!😉
Just watched a trailer to The Adam Project. Enjoy!
What a cool way to travel, it never occurred to me to get out!
I just watched the trailer too. Can we get a copy of The Adam Project for film night?
Of course 4K projector heating up; grab your chairs!
(I liked the movie; less scientific approach without being silly.
The dialogues between Adams and the rest are spot on).
Just getting the popcorn…
I’ve used it before for filling in details of story locations when I haven’t been to the exact place (if it exists) or a place like it. When writing Almira, I’d spend hours ‘driving up and down small, midwestern towns, taking in the way cars are parked. the commercial streets, the libraries. Fun
You can feel the alienation and familiarity at once. Love the photo additions. Love the simple line: “the young man in the old coat” – a perfect paint stroke that.
Imagine the consequences of a time traveller jacking a G**gle Street view camera vehicle… would this be like entering a kind of mothership? Could the jacker choose ‘secret’ locations known only to themselves, and create ‘short cuts’ or ‘dead ends’ or ‘places which no longer exist’ or are ‘yet to be built’ ??
The possibilities are endless…!
There’s this book, I mentioned in my reply to Denise, ‘Roadmarks‘ by Roger Zelazney way worth the money to buy.
That said, I’ll offer that the level of complexity that looks to develop in and around the SSC&B is very promising, if not a bit daunting-to-be
The woman who sat alone, in the second darkest spot in the Bistro, exhibited the serene concentration common to young mothers and old martial arts instructors;
That’s funny because it works, I see it. This was a fun Six, slightly suspenseful creepy, but he made it!
Thankyee Miz Avry
funny thing (and a compliment I’m easily able to enjoy*) the classic ‘Rule’ if it works, use it.
*not always easy
Loving the dissection; the things you learn!
ikr?