Tuesday, January 24, 2017

All Shades of Blue

"Sir. Hello. Are you awake?"
Munny rubs his eyes.
"Sir, can you hear my voice?"
Confused and dazed, Munny grunts. He looks to the right, but when he adjusts his body weight he falls off the bench he's been lying on. He vocalizes a small "ouch" as his body lands on the concrete.
"Sir please indicate to me clearly that you can hear my voice."
There's silence for a few more seconds. Then Munny says to the man, "I can hear you." His body aches from his recent fall. At his eye level are a pair of black shoes. They look polished but Munny can't tell without any light to reflect off of them.
"Sir, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?"
Munny's eyes widen. "Oh no," he says.
"Does that mean you don't understand the rights I have just read to you?"
"I think I understand."
"Good. Please get up so I can escort you to the vehicle."
Munny is still. He has no idea what is going on. He doesn't understand how he found himself on the ground next to a park bench. He doesn't understand why he's getting arrested. His head is pounding. His body aches. He just stays on the ground.
"Sir, we're going to need to get up."
Munny stays lying on the ground. He doesn't want to face whatever lies next. "Why are you doing this to me," he says.
"There were reports all through last night of a man loudly talking to himself and being disruptive, and witnesses indicated that person was you. You were also seen littering the railroad tracks with peels of a fruit."
Munny thinks back to last night as he remains lying on the ground. "You don't understand," he yells at the officer. "I was mourning the love of my life, she died in a car accident outside of the supermarket."
"Sir there were no car accidents outside of the supermarket last night."
Munny says nothing. He has no idea what to say.
"Sir if you don't get into the car on your own I will have to use force."
Resigned to his fate, Munny gets up, allows the officer to put handcuffs on him and walks over to the police car.
The officer drives Munny a few blocks. The officer stops on the banks of the rainbow river to use the restroom at a construction site porta-potty. Munny looks out his window and examines one of the trees growing next to the river. Hanging off its branches are fat, bright oranges.They look familiar, like the ones he peeled onto the railroad tracks the night before. Munny asks himself, "did any of that really happen?" He remembers it so clearly. His confusion doesn't go away as he sits lonely in the car. "What should I make of this?" Munny asks himself. Munny tries to think of an answer, at least a superficial, incorrect one the will buy him temporary security. But for the first time in years, Munny can't find an answer at all to that question.
The river is cloudy, with millions of crayon particles swimming in its waters. Each individually is infinitesimally small but together they are able to paint an entire river. The river is a thousand colors. But they're all shades of blue.