Fall 2011 - The University of Scranton

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with a worried smile, and the other walks out of the glass door and strides down the sidewalk hurriedly, phone in hand and hands in pockets. Up above is a uniform sky once buildings are out of view. The texture and tone are constant. Down again, past buildings, leaves tremble. The few people out fold in on themselves, their light wool coats, indistinguishable hulks. On the sidewalk, most of the storefront is glass, and in the pane nearest to the door, Elena and George fit their sitting profiles, chair backs lining up with the edges of the window. They smile, speak, she with her head tilted slightly back, he with his arms shaking less than before and with a new, wide-eyed intensity. A lamp hangs four feet above their heads, over the center of the table. Both are illuminated behind the glass. Elena speaks casually and looks questioningly at George, who begins to respond. His words stop before a complete thought though. He looks as if something is difficult to swallow now. His brow furrows impossibly deeply, looks about to devour his own eyes, which are filling. His shoulders move forward and toward each other and he sets his coffee down loudly for its shaking. His mouth is a solid line and he looks at her steadily, decisively. She looks back with a barely perceptible tinge of terror throughout her steely body. George leans toward the center of the table and Elena does the same. His lips begin to move, slowly, achingly. His wrist shakes violently under the table. What he says is brief. But when he sits back with his head tilted diagonally downward, with purposeful eyes, Elena also has her back against the chair, also has a changed demeanor. Her body is slumped back, and her eyes are widened, as one who shakes her head and mouths, “Oh. No… I am,” then pauses, glances toward the night, down at the table, then back into the other’s eyes, “so sorry.” The honesty of before is only heavier now, her voice only gentler, his resigned and still unsettling. She asks him a careful question and he looks at her hard, points out of the window and makes a ‘that way’ motion, his sleeve dropping slightly and revealing an entire, miniscule cross. She hesitates then and makes an admission, their commonality confirmed. He nods and the two of them speak at that table, return to her book. She grasps its spine, seems to need it for the heaviness at that table. The sky is still black as their conversation continues and is forced outside when they 28
look around and see chairs on top of tables and hear the vacuum running. He walks her home, nearly, for his car is right by. Her eyes are worried and will be. His interest is attached and will be. Viewed from the nearby night, the two of them are miniscule and walking empty streets, with Elena slightly ahead, her hands hidden in the folds of a coat. Tiny heads nod for a brief exchange of goodbyes, and she briskly moves away. George stands there for a moment, coat brushing his ankles, his eyes black. His hands are pocketed and their shaking is slower, steady. Walking to his car, he forms a slight, open-mouthed smile. It flutters haphazardly, as if in prayer. 29
Page 1: e s p r i t fall 2011
Page 4 and 5: Fall 2011 Awards: The Berrier Poetr
Page 6 and 7: Food Meant to be Shared Shawna Hoga
Page 8 and 9: Hypothetical Amsterdam Lori Green S
Page 10 and 11: 8 Spotted Map Jonathan A. Danforth
Page 12 and 13: A bedroom in the Bootysmasher Resid
Page 14 and 15: The Dining Room at the Bootysmasher
Page 16 and 17: Convenience Store Rosa Todaro In fr
Page 18 and 19: Behind the Locked Door John F. McGi
Page 20 and 21: through the drapes. He tilts his he
Page 22 and 23: Shrapnel Shard Michael J. Farley In
Page 24 and 25: Pale Green Lori Green Seven, his ag
Page 26 and 27: 24 The Offering Gillian Naro
Page 28 and 29: copy of a tragic Shakespeare. The b
Page 32 and 33: Flesh Corinne Nulton AT RISE: The b
Page 34 and 35: STEPH Funny. What happened to his f
Page 36 and 37: STEPH How do you know he’s alone?
Page 38 and 39: STEPH Maybe. Or maybe he doesn’t
Page 40 and 41: HALE —who left her alone— STEPH
Page 42 and 43: the weight of her entire body again
Page 44 and 45: Not even a kiss? Hale stands by the
Page 46 and 47: and said you will trade your apples
Page 48 and 49: Character Development Lori Green Gi
Page 50 and 51: 48 Shimmer Gillian Naro
Page 52 and 53: Hipster A said dismissively. “I w
Page 54 and 55: curtly to Hipster A, who produced a
Page 56 and 57: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Page 58 and 59: And complacent. So their love Exist
Page 60 and 61: Contributors Marie Barry is a junio
Page 62: Acknowledgments Esprit appreciates

Fall 2011 - The University of Scranton

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