To Be Transformed

It is morning and there has been a blizzard. The house is empty. I wander from room to room in boxers and socks. The power has gone out and the light from outside is clean and pure. The empty street has become a perfect gleaming version of itself. I stand very still and watch it through the front window.

Last night when we got stoned you showed me your poetry and I was overcome. It is so wonderful, I said tearfully, and as you touched the back of my neck softly I realized what I meant was, this is a part of your life that is so separate from myself. I will never captivate you fully.

I put on sweatpants and boots and walk outside with no shirt on. The snow is so deep I can climb up to the roof of the little beige shed in the side yard. I stand out there for some time, looking at my neighborhood from nine feet higher than usual. The cold is biting and fresh and feels just right, maybe. I'd like this moment to mean something. I'd like this to be beautiful. I'd like to be transformed.

SAM AUSTIN IS UP LATE WORRYING ABOUT HIS NAGGING ANKLE INJURY

ANKLE
I am confused about feeling sore.

SAM
Yes I know.

ANKLE
Sometimes running hurts me.

SAM
Yes.

ANKLE
And other times it doesn’t.

SAM
I know.

ANKLE
Sometimes it hurts to lift weights but not always.

SAM
I know. Yes.

ANKLE
Sometimes sitting too long hurts but other times it makes me feel better. Other times a brace can help but then later it just makes things worse.

SAM
I know all of this.

ANKLE
I wish I were a master assassin’s ankle.

SAM
Yes I kno- what?

ANKLE
If I were the ankle of a master assassin I would never hurt. I would always be fine.

SAM
What? How is that- why?

ANKLE
Because we would always do sweet stuff together. Master assassin stuff. I would climb up sweet walls and help him steady his aim so he could shoot poison crossbow darts.

SAM
That would not help. You would just hurt more. That would be very strenuous.

ANKLE
I would help him run away from the police after he commits and artfully staged and flawlessly executed hit on an evil foreign diplomat.

SAM
You seem to be losing sight of the problem at hand. Or at foot.

An uncomfortable beat.

ANKLE
You are unfunny and rarely commit planned murders. At best your murders are uncreative and spur of the moment.

SAM
What do you mean. I’ve never committed murder.

ANKLE
Don’t remind me.