seventyone

He noticed that her dress was only slightly darker than the wine, and the corner of her eyes sparkled like the glass. And they shared stories, but ones that people tell when they want to be only slightly more vulnerable than they would be with someone they met on the train to work. They didn't notice that they were taking turns trying to surreptitiously make contact with hands on the table, but they both noticed the resulting awkwardness. And there was laughing and stolen glances and a magic trick in which a cloth napkin hid the transmutation of a fork into three grapes.

And this became a story he told his grandchildren, but not for any of the reasons he expected.

#208

the venue was smoky, but not from cigarettes. machines spewed faux smoke to keep up appearances. blue and purple and green lights faded and changed and adjusted with the mood of the music. behind the fog was all eyeliner and collarbones and legs. deep voices laughed louder as the night wore on; the sloppy laughter of red stripe and pbr. of whiskey and coke.
the singer wasn't great, but the songs were, and by this point no one cared either way. she looked older than she was, hollowed cheeks and tired eyes, hidden under layers of L'Oreal.
and everywhere, the fake rhetoric of a generation based in hyperbole and disenchantment.