💥 LIVE From Ground Zero!
📖NEW CHAPTER: Velveteen's Return!
“Velveteen, what do you mean, ‘twitchy things?’” asked Mamma Gattina.
SFX: Cue “Running up That Hill" by Kate Bush
Mamma Gattina was Velveteen's therapist. One of Velveteen's therapists.
Velveteen answered, “I don't know, it’s weird, I get like these twitchy things, where it's like, you know how when you’re just starting to fall asleep, you get like this twitch? It’s like that, only i literally get like these fits. And it's like I just literally have one after another. And it's like I actually really don't mind it, because it's like that's how I know at least I'm falling asleep. But then it was like I started getting them really bad, like I was literally thrashing around, because it's literally like apnea or something, and I'm like gasping and making these sounds -- “
Mamma Gattina: What kind of sounds?
Velveteen (rubbing her forehead): Like can't breathe sounds.
Mamma Gattina and Velveteen were sharing a bottle of Oyster River Winegrowers 2017 “Morphos” Cayuga & Seyval Blanc, "full of life and with a natural effervescence,” much like Velveteen herself.
The appetizer course arrived:
A mix & match half dozen oysters (Peter's Point, Moon Shoal, Glidden Point and Belon) with lemon, cocktail sauce & mignonette, and
Two fried fish head “small plates,” with fish sauce vin & scallions)
Mamma Gattina suggested that Velveteen should see a neurologist, because she didn't want Velveteen to stroke out.
Velveteen said, “I tried making an appointment with one after I was hit by that 2017 Ford Expedition SUV, and they wouldn't take my insurance."
Velveteen wondered if anybody else had uncontrollable muscle twitches as a result of PTSD.
That, however, was just more of Velveteen's “crazy nonsense,” as Velveteen’s mother (who was dead) constantly reminded her at such moments.
And if you had asked Saran about Velveteen's “twitchy things,” Saran would not have answered you, because Saran does not know you.
And if, truly, Saran were to comfort Velveteen, all she would need to do would be to slip her right foot out of her sandal and ever-so-gently brush her toes against Velveteen's.
As Velveteen, or Vel (as her friends called her), felt Saran’s toes lovingly caress the top of her foot, she experienced a rush of pure joy. All ten of her toes dug firmly into the floor of her favorite booth, Booth 36, at her favorite restaurant, Fine Dining Establishment. Like a bird freed from her cage, she impaled another wedge of lemon on her oyster fork, splattering more juice across the (by now) not-so-giant-anymore dollop of horseradish and the okra garnish.
And at that moment, all ten of Velveteen's LumiDecoNails toe nail stickers lit up. “Code red!” she cried, locking eyes with Saran. “We’re going on a mission!”
Next: Meet Jack!
mean, ‘twitchy things?’” asked Mamma Gattina.
SFX: Cue “Running up That Hill" by Kate Bush
https://open.spotify.com/track/29d0nY7TzCoi22XBqDQkiP?si=-kPnOakdSu2ldABDOmoFGw
Mamma Gattina was Velveteen's therapist. One of Velveteen's therapists.
Velveteen answered, “I don't know, it’s weird, I get like these twitchy things, where it's like, you know how when you’re just starting to fall asleep, you get like this twitch? It’s like that, only i literally get like these fits. And it's like I just literally have one after another. And it's like I actually really don't mind it, because it's like that's how I know at least I'm falling asleep. But then it was like I started getting them really bad, like I was literally thrashing around, because it's literally like apnea or something, and I'm like gasping and making these sounds -- “
Mamma Gattina: What kind of sounds?
Velveteen (rubbing her forehead): Like can't breathe sounds.
Mamma Gattina and Velveteen were sharing a bottle of Oyster River Winegrowers 2017 “Morphos” Cayuga & Seyval Blanc, "full of life and with a natural effervescence,” much like Velveteen herself.
The appetizer course arrived:
A mix & match half dozen oysters (Peter's Point, Moon Shoal, Glidden Point and Belon) with lemon, cocktail sauce & mignonette, and
Two fried fish head “small plates,” with fish sauce vin & scallions)
Mamma Gattina suggested that Velveteen should see a neurologist, because she didn't want Velveteen to stroke out.
Velveteen said, “I tried making an appointment with one after I was hit by that 2017 Ford Expedition SUV, and they wouldn't take my insurance."
Velveteen wondered if anybody else had uncontrollable muscle twitches as a result of PTSD.
That, however, was just more of Velveteen's “crazy nonsense.”
Velveteen’s dead mother constantly reminded Velveteen of this caveat at such moments.
Next- Part Two: Saran Comforts Vel!
It Never Happened (A Memoir In Meme Form)
= CHAPTER ONE: "TEN YEARS AGO THIS VERY DAY"
"It was pretty much exactly ten years ago this very day -- "
“ . . . It never happened."
"Yes, it did. That was the day that my brother met me for lunch at a casual dining seafood restaurant in Wareham, Massachusetts."
"You are deluded."
"The reason I remember it so well is that -- "
"You lie."
"He played one of his l favorite funny, funny jokes on me. Which was to arrange a meeting and then totally stand me up. Which was super super funny. And then he would completely deny it. The first time he ever did this was in 1979. In Harvard Square."
"You fantasize."
"And I believe that this lunch we had together was the first initial swirl, in what was to be my final -- I was circling the drain. For the last time. I was a horrible person! I was the worst type of person a person could be. Also, I was completely out of my mind. My whole entire life up to this point had been just ...
It Never Happened (A Memoir In Meme Form)
= CHAPTER ONE: "TEN YEARS AGO THIS VERY DAY"
"It was pretty much exactly ten years ago this very day -- "
“ . . . It never happened."
"Yes, it did. That was the day that my brother met me for lunch at a casual dining seafood restaurant in Wareham, Massachusetts."
"You are deluded."
"The reason I remember it so well is that -- "
"You lie."
"He played one of his l favorite funny, funny jokes on me. Which was to arrange a meeting and then totally stand me up. Which was super super funny. And then he would completely deny it. The first time he ever did this was in 1979. In Harvard Square."
"You fantasize."
"And I believe that this lunch we had together was the first initial swirl, in what was to be my final -- I was circling the drain. For the last time. I was a horrible person! I was the worst type of person a person could be. Also, I was completely out of my mind. My whole entire life up to this point had been just one long, endless series of psychotic breaks, one after the other, for f -- "
"You are ...
So It Was Pretty Much Exactly Ten Years Ago This Very Day: A Short Story
“ . . . It never happened."
"Yes, it did. That was the day that my sister met me for lunch at a casual dining seafood restaurant in Wareham, Massachusetts."
"You are deluded."
"The reason I remember it so well is that -- "
"You lie."
"She played one of her l favorite funny tricks on me. Which was to arrange a meeting and then totally stand me up. Which was super super funny. And the she would completely deny it. The first time she ever did this was in 1979. In Harvard Square."
"You fantasize."
"And I believe that this lunch we had together was the first initial swirl, in what was to be my final -- I was circling the drain. For the last time. I was a horrible person! I was the worst type of person a person could be. Also, I was completely out of my mind. My whole entire life up to this point had been just one long, endless series of psychotic breaks, one after the other, for f -- "
"You are manipulative. What is it you really want?"
"And ...
