Off the top of my head

An experiment. This is written as I type it, whereas the others were all transcribed from previously written stuff. We'll see if this works... (not checked for spelling errors)


She lifted the glass of wine and took a sip. Savouring the mouthful before swallowing, she tried to describe to herself the flavours within - hints of nuttiness, or spice, or oak casks. But she couldn't. It tasted like wine.

The music in the background was mellow, jazzy. The air was warm and the lights were dim. She was getting drowsy. The whole mood was relaxed and calm, and she felt her tensions slipping away; her shoulders dropped from being pressed to her ears, her jaw unclenched, and she began breathing deep into her lungs. It was Friday night, finally. She'd begun to think it would never come, that this week from hell would never end. First, the fight with her boss, then running into them at the bar... and so many tiny moments of frustration that seemed to build and build into mountains of stupidity. But it was over. Friday had arrived and rescued her.

"You seem far away" came the voice of her companion. She looked over at her friend and smiled. "Nope, I'm basking in being here, actually. I can't think of anywhere nicer right now."
She sat back on the couch, and sank into conversation, her mind fully committed to enjoying itself. They discussed a few movies they'd recently watched, some books they'd enjoyed. They gossiped about friends and co-workers, bitched about encounters with annoying store clerks or taxi drivers. They avoided conversations on work, or bosses, or relationships, as those would probably bring back the very tensions they were trying to disband. And everyone already knows not to talk about politics or religion unless you want to fight.

"I want to do something different tonight," she blurted out after a few more glasses of wine. "I want to go to an art gallery, or watch the symphony, or fly to Paris for brunch."

"There is no art gallery or symphony in this town," her friend smacked her with reality. "And brunch in Paris is gonna set you back quite a bit. Not to mention you wouldn't get there until dinner tomorrow..."

"You and your pragmatism. 'Oh, you can't fly to the moon tonight, that's impossible.' 'You don't have enough money to ride an elephant around the world.' Always knocking me down."

"Actually, I'd be up for an elphant trip around the world. We should look into that."

They both went quiet, contemplating the merits and hazards one would be likely to encounter while riding an elephant around the world, and whether or not the elephant would need visas or a passport, or other documentation, or if, perhaps there were no restrictions on elephants, as they weren't prone to rabies like dogs and cats. And just how much does an elephant need to eat in order to walk that far?

Eventually, they both returned to the original sentiment. "So what are we going to do tonight?"

Regular bars were offered up and rejected for a variety of reasons, a drive to the coast vetoed by the cost of gas, and the chance of rain. In their small town, there didn't seem to be many other options, especially as they were both attempting to avoid "undesirables" of the moment.

"Why do we have to go through this rigamaroll every Friday night?"

"I think we just need to move to a bigger city and be done with it. Some place with options."

"Do you really think that people in a bigger city don't sit around trying to figure out what to do on a Friday night? I'm sure even art galleries get boring after a few visits."

"Then we should keep moving. We should live in each major world city for only a few months at a time, moving on whenever we get bored with it. By the time we've been around the world, the old ones will be new again. Genius!"

"And we'll afford this how, exactly?"

"Bah, a pox on your pragmatism! If you want to do something, you can figure out a way. We can sell our blood in New York, for instance."

"I doubt very much we'll make enough for rent before fainting."

"Fine then, we'll just win the lottery first. Or, I can marry a rich old man with a bad heart."

"Very solid ideas, those are."

"Well, you're not offering any!"

"That's true. Perhaps we can ride elephants around the world as a fundraiser for our living in different cities."

"Now you're just mocking me." She pouted.

"Yes."

She wasn't really angry, so she didn't stay quiet for long. She didn't want her friend to think that she was being bratty.

"Ok, change of subject. Well, leaving this subject to revist another, anyway... where are we going now? Look," she glanced at her watch - a Snoopy watch with Woodstock ticking around as the second hand. "It's almost midnight already. If we're going to go, we should go now. Otherwise..."

"What, we stay here, get drunk on cheaper alcohol, don't chance running into anyone unpleasant, and have scintillating conversations about outrageous plans?"

"Well, ya. I guess we could do that."

With that, she sighed again, and relaxed back on to the sofa. Her friend poured them both another glass of wine, and with the question, "Could an elephant swim the Atlantic, or would we have to take a ship?" they were off again, their imaginations giving them the strange and unusual evening they'd been hoping for all along.