10:00 - 10:20am
Unexplainable burn marks on my grey sheets. I do not smoke anymore. Never in the bedroom. The grey matches thin lines on the comforter. The comforter matches the color of the walls, but that is happenstance. By some miracle of chance the way light is absorbed or reflected is shared between two objects. A hardening distance between myself and the draw of sleep. I am alive again. There are tiny holes in most of my t-shirts near where a belt buckle might be. This is indicative of fowl play. Twisting off bottle caps. The little ridges tear holes through shirts and I seemed to have tainted all of my shirts with evidence of partying. What sickening disgrace. Bending bottle caps, beer strictly... Bending bottle caps backwards. Into a taco.
Who do I want to write about? A sad, life-weary middle aged man... Not necessarily sad, but thoughtful. He thinks of his entire life and wonders how he can restore vigor into the present. He is in an awful repetitious rut. His only son off to college somewhere warm. He is in forced isolation because he never got along with his snobby neighbors. His name is Gary. His son is a side character.
What happens to Gary? During a storm, a bad one. The worst of the last ten years perhaps... A tree falls through the tall fence through an unknown neighbors yard. Secretly Gary is excited by the storm. He wants to go to the waterfront to see what kind of damage the storm is doing to the expensive houses and bulkheads and boats down there. But his wife drags him in front of the television. Where images of a large house being destroyed by a rogue wave are displayed. They have the generator running so their fridge continues to work. And so television stills blares nonsensically into the quiet house. Gary cheers and says 'nice!' when this house is destroyed. Secretly ashamed he did not see this in person. It would have been a five minute drive to this part of the shore. His wife says 'isn't that awful!' in reaction to it. (this will be a scene... expressing character traits of each.... Gary craves exciting things in his life because of a growing sense of monotony... his wife, Cheryl, how bout.... Is content with her comfort and talking to her girlfriends on the phone....)
Gary does what he can to shake things up... The next day... Cheryl calls a friend to gossip about the destroyed house, Gary takes the other line and says something like 'those people deserved it'. And laughs and goes outside to wander through the wreckage... The downed powerlines that zap curious birds. turning them invalid to ever fly again. Exciting stuff he thinks.
The tree into the neighbors lawn. He inspects this and sees the man's backyard for the first time... Something strange here... like what?? First inclination was for Gary to discover that his neighbor appears to have been conducting experiments in his yard. The small, innocent looking toolshed was also smashed through... and appears to be a type of control room. Or a laboratory. Central to this is what looks like an operating table. Gary is not afraid of all of this though, he thinks it strange. Walks around to the front gate... The perimeter of the house is impenetrable. He tries to buzz himself in, to discuss a neighborly effort to remove the tree from their yards. No response for awhile. Then suddenly... a voice. What do you want? Speak up!
This is the idea of a creepy... evil professor sort of neighbor. but the true nature of the experimental devices are shrouded and we can't tell if they are for good or for bad....
Another idea could be that the tree crashes through and the other side of the fence is a grow operation. Fields of marijuana exposed into the air. (This requires a warmer climate... Washington would not suffice.... Nor Cal? Oregon?) Plants as tall as humans... Gary hadn't touched the stuff since his 20's.
Also there is a skateramp.... The owner of the house is a single man a few years younger than Gary. Living a dream life. He opens Gary's eyes.
Okay so... Gary is protagonist. He is bored. Storm happens and that introduces him to his eccentric neighbor and they form a friendship of sorts. Perhaps a drug cartel. Perhaps something more drastic. Simple experiments... or "project mayhem" style efforts.
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