Thursday, July 19, 2007

Another Roadside Abstraction

Three things seen lying on the side of a rural road within a few feet of each other this afternoon: an old mattress, one in-line skate, and a dead raccoon, feet in the air.

It’s obvious, after a little consideration, that these are related.

The raccoon, rooting around in a nearby garage, finds a pair of in-line skates. This might be fun! says he. Squeezing into one skate, he pushes off, like a luge racer at the start of his run, and sails down the long driveway, heading for the discarded mattress. He hits the ditch, is flung into the air, separates from the skate, overshoots the mattress, and blam! He’s DOA on the pavement next to the mattress.

It’s a stunt worthy of Wile E. Coyote, and I almost got to see it happen!

2 comments:

  1. Great post! Great title! Go Tom Robbins!

    Have you ever read Ian Frazier's Coyote v. Acme? Brilliant short story in the form of a lawyer's brief about Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme corporation for their shoddy products.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dearest Brendon:

    I like Ian Frazier's work, but have never read the "Coyote vs. Acme" story. Off to the library, I guess.

    Regards,

    Jim H.

    ReplyDelete

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