14.1.08

Red Balloons You Forgot About

"Where are you off to now?"
I should have asked it that, as it bobbed across my path, but I didn't.
I was fourteen, I didn't understand what I'd just seen.
Now I'm seventeen and just enough time has passed that homes could seems worth revisiting.
Stupid forces call me back to them; to the time and place
where the Winters are more sincere
and you never needed to worry about red balloons or truth and beauty bombs.

Despite my better judgment, I have the insane urge to revisit Fort Frances. I don't know what it is I'd expect to find there other than the same old wasteland complete with marauding bandits. Maybe I'm looking for closure, or some obscure feeling of understanding. Maybe I want to understand where I came from?
There's nothing there to understand; just bones and railroad tracks and one highway into town; a cemetery beside a pulp and paper mill, and a lake.
Oh, and the bass tournament.

7 comments:

tangerine said...

Ahhh, the bass tournament. Remember when that was a good time? Oh... no? Oh... okay... uhhhmm...
you forgot mall days and fun in the sun.
JUST SAYIN'!

Anonymous said...

fun in the sun sounds made up

Travis said...

Fun in the Sun was an annual youth beauty contest. Once my mom painted a portrait of the winner.

Anonymous said...

like little mrs.sunshine? What's the deal with using the sun in the titles?
Sunshine makes you old and wrinkly. Not youthful and bright.

Travis said...

It was high school/middle school students for the most part, but I guess they did also have a 'Little Miss Fun in the Sun' portion of the pageant.
It was a democratic pageant; though I can't imagine polling stations being set-up or people actually voting, yet somehow both occurred.

tangerine said...

They held different events throughout the summer prior to announcing the winner to determine who won. Different talent contents and stuff, you had to actually attend those to vote. Basically they got points for each thing I guess and they won depending on who had the most points or blah blah blah. Basically there was something and pretty much everyone won. There was scholarship money and stuff.

Travis said...

Oh wow, I didn't know we lived in Twin Peaks.

Why didn't I know we lived in Twin Peaks?