Slow Magick

It was not that I didn’t want to face the day but more that I wanted to drift in and out of half slumber for a while longer, that made it hard for me to leave my bed this morning… Arriving at work, it seemed I was not alone in my mood… Everyone had struggled to drag themselves out… Everyone running late by their usual standards. A range of from a few minutes to upwards of an hour… On my timescale, late means on time. I’m usually early as I like to sit awhile, listen to the birds, watch the squirrels, see the newspaper delivery guy wheelspin in and out of the car park… Idle daydream before I focus on getting into gear…

Work done, I arrive home. I’m in the mood for lazing. Music is playing, Mr S is sat one end of the sofa. I siddle up, and slide down until my head rests upon his lap and my feet dangle over the sofa arm. I could easily fall asleep but he’s slapping out bass lines on my ass. I’m mildly annoyed as it jolts my drifting… But not annoyed enough to move my head from where it rests on him taking in his warmth. I zone out the rhythmic taps…

He starts to talk… Breakdown and analysis of the structure of the song… FFS Mark! Now I remember why I don’t listen to music with you! Can’t you just shut up and let me soak?

He laughs at me – oh! Like you even know what you’re listening to anyway. We start to bicker… Of course I know what this is, besides even if I didn’t, why does it matter? How will I enjoy it more for talking about it? Shut up man and let me listen…

He mumbles on… OK, I tell him, let me put it this way. When you go to a gallery, you like to look at paintings even though you only see the world in 3 colours…

What do you mean 3 colours?

Black… White… Other!

Oh! OK! I’ll give you that!

OK, so if you stood in front of a big painting and I stood between you and the painting, dancing around making jazz hands in your face, you wouldn’t be annoyed?

I’d be very annoyed… Oh.. OK… I’ll stop talking…

I drift back into idle thoughts and place my hand on top of his to dull down the eternal bass line tapping… The dull pain in my achy neck begins to soften and melt away… I breathe in his smells of earthy outdoors and I sink a little further and my legs stretch a little longer…

A more focused thought starts seeping into my mind. He breaks the silence – Hey, Air Head, you seem a liitle preoccupied… What’s on your mind?

Hmm… I think I need to find a staff…

A staff?

Yes…

He laughs again, you’ve got one!

Eh?

He completely brings me back into this world as he bounces to his feet, dislodging my sleepy head…He goes into the kitchen rummages around, cusses a little as something gets knocked over and returns with a beaming smile and a gnarly staff. Here! This is yours!

Where did that come from?

I cut it for you, when I made mine.

When was that? We blah blah blah back and forth until I pinpoint the time as being in 2012. You’ve had that hiding in the kitchen for 8 years? I glance the thick layer of dust that runs all along one side… A bad housekeeping confirmation of the dating… So why did you not mention it before now?

Oh because the staff told me to wait until you asked…

He hands it to me and then wanders off to take a bath. I pick up my new friend and as I run my hands across the bark, images fill my mind… Yes… This is definitely my staff… I look at the twists and turns… How will I adorn thee?

The reply comes back… Slowly…

Staff, do you not think that you took a little gamble here?

In what way?

In waiting… In stasis… Sleeping until I called out for you? How long would you wait for me?

As long as it takes…

But you relied on the sexton to deliver you. You’ve heard how we squabble… How did you know we’d stay together?

The staff twisted in my hands, the weight shifting, it set itself free and landed, knocking my tea across the floor…

Oh… OK… I guess we’re done talking then? I’ll never find out how you knew I’d still be here… I bend down to clean the mess and smile… How did you know I’d still be here?

The answer is wet on the floor…