those fig mornings
A work of fiction, for once.
If only tram rides were really this enjoyable….....
those fig mornings belongs to the following groups:
A New Aesthetic.... Divine and Otherwise , Blue Room, Melbourne & Victoria, Short stories - Spherical Scriptings, The Red Writing Room, The Sensual Word and WMGYou have a freckle on your wrist. I watch it when you turn the pages of your book, your muscles swivelling. I like this indeed.
You read Kurt Vonnegut. I like this too. You read fast and your lips never move. Once you laughed out loud and I saw your pointed teeth. I crossed my legs, and pressed.
I can tell you’re left handed. You have a long thumbnail and I imagine it flicking across your guitar strings. I know you’d sing Big Mama Thornton songs with a husky voice. I lower my head with a smile, and hum along.
I think you sleep on the left side of the bed. I think I say this because I sleep on the right, but I can’t be sure. You twitch in your sleep and your hands reach for something that’s never there, but you don’t remember this when you wake. No-one ever tells you.
Once, I sat behind you and I swear you smelled of figs. I imagine you cupping their pale green roundness in your hands, and sliding that nail into their succulent flesh. I see you scooping out seeds and passing them into your warm mouth, crunching them between sharp teeth. I tend to look away from you when I imagine this. I tend to blush.
Your hair is shorn and at the nape of your neck are several silver hairs, almost lost amongst the black. Each time I see this I feel such a desire to touch them that one day, I’m scared I might. I imagine what they’d feel like against my fingertips. I wonder what your hands crave.
You talk to alley cats when no-one else is looking and drink your coffee black. You’re not a morning person but that’s ok, neither am I. We’ll smile about that later.
Tomorrow, you’ll wear your blue Friday coat with the wide collar and I’ll have my ruby satin heels. I saw you glance at them once, look away, and then glance back with a smile tugging at the corner of your mouth. I notice everything. You made me strut that day.
Some day soon, I’ll sit near you with my eyes on that freckle as the pages turn. Before I can imagine those hands and their path across me, I’ll lift my gaze, and smile. I’ll speak.
I think my voice won’t tremble, but I could be wrong.
And you’ll show those pointy teeth again as you smile back.
Doug Greenwald
Spine-tinglingly good.
bellmusker replied
Thanks Doug! I’m a chronic daydreamer, as you can probably tell :-)
nadine henley
wow! bell – another treasure of a piece, dripping with that sharp totally unsentimental sensuality that you do so well – the pointy teeth and too long thumbnail. and i love those swiveling muscles. I’ve fallen for this guy and will fight you for him!
bellmusker replied
How I wish he actually existed!! I was standing on the tram recently, gazing down at a passenger, and became entranced by the nape of his neck, and the stray hairs there. My desire was strong I had to move away or I would have reached out to stroke them…...this piece came out of that.
Where are the Kurt Vonnegut reading, silver haired musicians on route 112? That’s what I’d like to know!
John Robb
Wonderful, just so truly beautifully textured writing.
bellmusker replied
Hey! Which part of the world are you in, kind sir? I’ve been following your journal posts…. hope you’ve been indulging in plenty of cheese-in-a-can and two litre coffees :-)
nadine henley
they’re hiding fom you, bell!
bellmusker replied
Ha – must be something about my Medusa scowl…...
PJ Ryan
so wonderful, loved reading every little letter of this .. x
bellmusker replied
Thanks sweetheart, I loved writing this…hope to see you at the writers’ meeting on Sunday? x
Paul Louis Vil...
Always a pleasure!! :D
bellmusker replied
And it’s always a joy to see you pop your head in and say hi :-)
PJ Ryan
yes, definately, looking forward to it very much x
Holly Ringland
ahhhh, so this are the furiously scrawled words of last eve, hey? i’ve been waiting… and… delicious my girl. i lived in a house once that had a fig tree in the back yard that surrended the most luscious green and aubergine figs – it completely enchanted me and i would sit out under it even in the dead of winter for the scent of figs around me. i could smell them again as i read this jelly bean. i so love where your words have been taking us lately… a work of fiction for once... indeed. what a tasty little daydream. maybe you could be the black cherry vanilla to his fig? surely that will lure the the Kurt Vonnegut reading, silver haired musicians on route 112…
bellmusker replied
Tommy, this is what your radar picked up on last night: sitting over a keyboard, forgetting to eat or even drink water as words came pouring out…....and trust you to head for the scent, indulging in the sensual pleasure of inhaling such delight. Somehow, I knew you once had a fig tree! x x x
Paul Grinzi
I saw you glance at them once, look away, and then glance back with a smile tugging at the corner of your mouth. I notice everything.
Wonderful stuff.
... daydreaming with you.
bellmusker replied
I daydream so much I forget to get off at my tram stop…..bliss. :-)
Astoreth
Bell, I love your imagination and your daydreams and musings. I havent been on a tram or a bus or a train for ages more like a donkey or a camel where i live…. but when i did i always had to stop myself from wanting to pat bald heads….lol….i’m a strange one. kisses xxxx
bellmusker replied
Donkeys and camels, hey? What stories that must bring! Thanks sweetheart x
Mike Rowley
Brilliant. A thing of whimsical beauty. Loved every syllable.
bellmusker replied
Thanks so much, Mike…...what lovely words to leave!
mstrace
oh bell, this was so so SO lusciously vividly good, that for once twice even I read the entire thing out loud. As I sit here in my living room with the TV on mute waiting for my nephews to show up (babysitting tonight). I will have three pepper fig jelly when you get here. Have you indulged in such a treat before? Dear me, talk about desire. I am now filled with desire and a hankerin’ for that fig jelly…and some pointy teeth all my own.
bellmusker replied
Oh….....my…........lord…........three pepper fig jelly?! As if I wasn’t already entranced by the thought of half baked cookie dough ice cream and cucumber martinis…...almost time to count the sleeps, my girl. x x
Lisa Jewell
If I said I’d like to meet this man, would that be wrong. Your writing My Darling is so lush and alive.
I think I need a fig.
xxxxxx
bellmusker replied
Ah, how I wish this man existed….it’d send me into work with a smile! See you Sunday, my lovely woman x x x
Colleen Milburn
God, what a glorious read.
bellmusker replied
How I love that word, glorious....thanks so much, Colleen :-)
Kates
They’re not on Route 1 either… drat.
bellmusker replied
Ain’t it always the way? ;-)
Jared D White
gloriously sexy yet shy and a bit creepy. Wonderful prose.
You never disappoint
bellmusker replied
Ah Jared, I have to agree with you about the slight creepiness – if someone were thinking about me this way, I’d be startled! But ‘tis a work of fiction, I must add….one shy glance on a tram and a whole character came tumbling out of my pen. I think this is why I’ve never learned to drive! Cheers for the lovely comment.
awdigitaldreams
Phew!!!! fabulous, as always…
bellmusker replied
You make me smile!
natapee
God to find a guy like this to enliven my morning commute would be a complete dream!!! I wonder if there’s many true to life stories of love found on trams, in any case, this story was completely alive to me. It’d be wonderful as a short film, really really vivid, dreamy and beautiful. x
bellmusker replied
Alas, it was a complete dream, I have to confess. But sometimes, when we write characters or story lines, they’re curiously delivered to our doors….will keep you informed, Nat! x x
Enivea
You wicked witch, I saved reading this till last, so I could savour every morsel, and what happened? You sent my fingers off to write this LOL!
friartuck
Such a daydreamer Belle. I have to admit I’m a tragic daydreamer myself, so can very-much relate to these snippets of mental drifting. It can be a wonderful universe, that place between your ears, can it not? This one made me smile and drift for a while myself.
Thanks. ;-)
bellmusker replied
I get so many story ideas from watching people on trams, and eavesdropping…..my little red notebook comes out for everyone! And yes Kloose, I’m a chronic daydreamer….you too, hey?
Steve Strodder...
moment afetr moment after moment in that one bell
x
bellmusker replied
It’s those moments I live for….. x
crowe
You’ll write again tomorrow…and I’ll be back
bellmusker replied
I truly hope so, crowe….thank you!
LittleHelen
Maybe we’ll run into him on our journey :) xx
bellmusker replied
Ha! A fourteen hour flight should give me plenty of people to write about, and plenty of time to do so. NINE SLEEPS babe, until I see you at the airport!!! x x x
Ash Sievwright
i think i’m having an orgasm …
bellmusker replied
Then don’t let me interrupt! backs slowly away and closes the door :-)
TheWanderingBoo
wonderfully sensuous writing
bellmusker replied
Thanks Boo, I always appreciate your lovely comments :-)
LindaR
you had me at the freckle and twist of the wrist…such a delicious treat to step into this morning…xx
bellmusker replied
A flexing wrist muscle does things to me that I can’t quite articulate….glad to know you understand!
Jessica Tremp
you are a sensual one aren’t you?
this took me along on a page turning tram ride with freckled wrists too
x
bellmusker replied
I love that I can make you nostalgic for a grimy urban tram when you’re reclining on a beautiful tropical beach, sipping pina coladas and being fanned by palm fronds. You realise that’s my daydream whenever I think of you in Bali, right?! Hurry back little Monty, I’ve been missing you so much x x
aglaia b
i love figs, everything about them.
from the growing to the picking, to the eating to the cooking.
they make me squeal with delight exactly like this piece of writing just has. ;-) xox
bellmusker replied
Then we have a few coming our way next time we meet up….,how about marscapone figs, bursting with creamy goodness? Yummmmmm…...x x
KathO
I want a ticket for that tram you’re on!!!
bellmusker replied
No wonder it’s always so packed! :-)
Sorina Williams
...enjoyed this sooo much!!!
bellmusker replied
Cheers Sorina, glad you like this!
Damian
Gorgeous Bell. I think you’d be wonderful to watch as you watch those around you. But I loved the creation of a world around a figure seen from afar.
bellmusker replied
That’s what I adore about writing, Damian: one single word from a stranger into their phone and a whole character falls out of my pen, a plot line forming itself before my eyes. I wouldn’t do anything else, really!
Sarafeline
Eloquent prose ….Liked this very much.
bellmusker replied
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it :-)
Leila Koren
YESYESYES! I love pointy teeth and kurt vonnegut too!
hehe – great writing!!!
bellmusker replied
Pointy teeth are sublime, but you know what gets me? A gap between the front teeth….sigh… every time. Thanks for the comment, I’m glad you enjoyed it :-)
happyfeet5
Very nicely done. Liked it Iris
bellmusker replied
Thanks, Iris – much appreciated!
Priya ...
I feel like I’ve just dipped into a bath of warm water-
Even my bones sighed when I read this. Oh I know the feeling of yearning from afar- is it not exhilarating and excruciating at once? Thank you for a wonderful readbellmusker replied
Sweetheart, so sorry I missed this comment! I’ve just flicked this piece up near the top of my folio again, and chanced upon your lovely words. There’s nothing quite like dipping into a bath of warm water, so I’m well pleased by this comment…..and how I wish this man really did catch my tram each morning…....how quickly time would fly, hey? x
Selkie
God, how could i have missed this piece? Need to pull my head oot of me little ostrich-hole, innit :).
Just lovely…Vonnegut…figs..le sigh…
bellmusker replied
Vonnegut and figs just seemed to go well together, though I’m not entirely sure why….. and I wish this man did exist, so I didn’t have to write him into being – would make my morning ride to work so much more interesting :-) Thanks, Selkie!