Same night as Weezer -Thank you Orion (please critique)
by ModernAncient
Posted to Stories on 2002-02-03 20:30:00
What a beautiful night. THIS is life. This is beauty and truth and everything good. I am writing this the day after an excellent night. Sam and Gregg called my house from Pound Ridge and came on over, then, as we were going to drop Becca (the fifth wheel of the group) off at her house, Sam got the urge and just put the top down on his nice convertible. It was cold, but hell, it was worth it. The sky was gorgeous that night. Everything was crystal-clear with that early February crispness, and the stars were shining bright and proud. We saw Orion stretching across the moon-less sky like a guardian, and the big dipper -huge and wonderful. Then there’s the North Star, guiding explorers for centuries, and still going strong. Except this time the old North Star was guiding three lost teens, searching for themselves on a pristine New York suburbia road. And all those weird passing headlights, coming and going like shooting stars of the road… What are THEY searching for? Anything? Or have they given up already? They must be searching at some level though, everyone is. And what a sight we must have been! Hahaha, four teens crammed into a small convertible with the top down, all of us watching the sky and loving it. Then I remembered:
“OH! We should go to the dinosaur!”
“What are you babbling about Matt? Dinosaur?”
“YEAH! There’s this really weird dinosaur somewhere along Becca’s road. It’s over on the left somewhere, you guys gotta see this thing!” I said with the light enthusiasm of a young boy.
“But what do you mean dinosaur?” Becca said skeptically.
“If I try to explain I’ll just sound dumb, you have to see it to believe it.”
“Okay Matt, whatever, we’ll go I guess. You lead the way.” Sam finally said.
So I led the way as he said. I showed Sam where to turn and we found ourselves winding down a very narrow, beat up dirt road. The ambiance of the place was very odd. At any moment you felt like some kind of unspeakable beast was about to leap out of the bushes, and us with the top down, we were sitting ducks for some awful predator to drop down from the trees into the car and tear us all to smithereens. But we made it to the dinosaur.
Now as I said before, if I try to explain it I’ll just sound dumb, you need to actually SEE this thing. So first I’ll give directions to this monstrosity so you can see it, and then I’ll try to describe it. Find the small town of Pound Ridge, New York. Get onto Route 172 going into Pound Ridge, bear left and go past the town church and library, after the library bear right and go down that road for a while. A couple miles down the road turn left onto Lynden Road. Go down Lynden Road until you find it; have faith, it will be there.
This dinosaur is absolutely the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen that isn’t alive. This thing is made out of driftwood and it’s just absolutely bizarre. The whole thing looks like it might come un-attached and just walk across the road. Such a weird thin that dinosaur is.
After the dinosaur we went back to my house and started taking shots. I slugged back my nice brown whiskey fast and good, the not the slightest cringe, but the grin of an experienced drinker, feeling the nice warmth and soothing vibrations work their way down to my toes. All the way down. And then Sam, taking shots of weaker stuff, cringing, fighting the warmth. He was lost, he didn’t know what he was doing; no direction, no experience. And Gregg of course, tipping back the triple shot glass, all full of vodka, and giggling like he does as it slid down his throat, burning whatever was left of his damaged stomach. THEN THE PHONE RANG!
This was not good at all. The three of us standing around, reeking of booze, and a bunch of open bottles and glazed-with-liquor shot glasses about ten feet from my mother’s room. A very dangerous business this drinking stuff is! Sam froze of course, being inexperienced, but I leapt up and slid across my tiled kitchen floor and flicked the phone off the hook. I knew Gregg would take care of the bottles and glasses. So Gregg capped all the bottles quickly and slid them back into place, and quickly rinsed out the glasses. I nodded to him and then he knew… The girls called back, and were cooking up Jell-O-shots as we spoke. I told Tricia we’d be over in ten minutes, and Gregg, for reasons I’ll never understand, accepted the roll of designated driver. So we went over there carefully. Gregg drove slow and steady, and considering he didn’t have his license and just took three shots of vodka all at once, it was dangerous. But we made it in due course and rolled up the driveway. We were here.
We walked in and basically the fiesta was kickin’. People were getting drunk and girls were laughing. I walked in and immediately took three more shots. I walked off the sudden nausea I was feeling and then I was in the party. Girls, TV, booze, the works baby. So the party went on, and like all parties, it went through the different rhythms. First it was crazy and loud, but then, as the booze really settled, everyone chilled out. By the end of the night, around 4:30 my favorite part of the night came. It was so great. We were lounging around Tricia’s nice kitchen drunk and talking deep. We chatted about all kinds of things, but eachother and ourselves mostly. We were feeling open and we didn’t really care what we said, as long as it was true. We were really synched up that night, we were all on the same channel. It was only the true, hardcore party-goes by then though, and they are the only ones who deserve to chill like that, to be on the same channel. So we were lounging around, Kelly had her head on my leg and she was mumbling about something or other, and Tricia was jiving about choices and college and that kind of thing. I was talking about Zen and Buddha and art like I do, and Gregg was sitting there, sober, absorbing all the nice, soft, comforting vibrations. It was a nice night, and the stars showed brightly. Eventually Kelly fell asleep on my lap and it was beautiful. I watched her eyes softly shut, like a setting sun, and her breathing got deep and heavy. Sleep is wonderful stuff. People look great when they sleep, maybe it’s because they’re away from all the badness of the real world. Even though there really wasn’t much badness in that room, that night.
My butt started to cramp up, so I shook Kelly lightly and told her to go upstairs and go to bed, she did, and I said goodnight. Gregg, Sam and I decided to go back to my house and sleep the rest of the night away, and we said goodbye. Gregg, in much better condition on the ride back, than the ride over there, drove home well. Swooping along the winding black curves of the country-looking road. We owned the road that night. We really were the only people who truly belonged on it. And Orion of course, protecting us, maybe only for just that night, but protecting us nonetheless.
That’s all we needed, protection. All of needed it from different things of course. We all had our reasons to be there that night, and all those reasons were fulfilled. Thank you Orion, bless your spear and your vigilance, watch over my always, and keep an eye on Tricia and Kelly for me, they deserve it. And please be there next time Orion, be there protecting all of us. Guide us… We’ve lost our way and need guidance, guide us Orion. Deliver us from this nostalgic sadness and wonder. Deliver me from youth.
