David took a deep breath and rapped on the window with his knuckles. Standing on the stoop of his ex-wife’s house, hat in hand, he only had a fuzzy plan of action. He could dance a jig or a soft-shoe, but he would have to wait until his knee had healed.
A surge in the crowd behind him jolted him forward. The orchestra and chorus were numerous, and they were a very disgruntled crew: the woodwind section sat on the wall in clumps of two and three; the first violins were playing pickup with the second violins; the percussion section had only a dim notion of what was going on.
The door began to swing inward, the conductor swept her baton through the air, and the brass sections let rip with sheer gusto. A blare of trumpets, timpani, the lightness of bow on strings. Neighbors peered curiously through windows.
A young man dressed in baggy pants and a do-rag stood in the doorway. The music faded in discord, the singers left, and the buzz diminuendoed.
“Who the hell are you?”
Sources: New Oxford American Dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
As late afternoon merged imperceptibly into early evening, a warm September evening, I went for a long walk. A peaceful riverside amble before dark, where the blackwood, the box, and the bastard oak grew. Needed a change of scene.
The murmur of bees in the rhododendrons.
The birds tweeting in the branches.
Planes passing overhead.
A car horn.
A flourish of trumpet.
The scratch of a match lighting a cigarette. (I have many vices, but smoking is the big one. I blame you for that.)
There were echoes and scents that awoke some memory in me—we went for a swim in the river, but the water was a touch too chilly for us. The weather was terrible, do you remember? It was raining hard. We took a bus back to the city center, wet clothes dripping onto the floor.
Where are you living now? Are you all right? Are you keeping company with anyone special these days? Have you lost your taste for fancy restaurants?
Your problems seem larger than life at that time of night. With a suspicion of a smile, I strolled around, muttering to myself, You’ll be okay, kiddo.
Sources: New Oxford American Dictionary, Collins COBUILD Primary Learner’s Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, Macquarie Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
I’ve made such a mess of my life. I’m all washed up. I lost everything in the crash: my friends and loved ones, a knockout wife and two daughters, a flourishing career . . . I didn’t intend to deceive people into thinking it was French champagne! I never dreamed anyone would take offense. I was accused of masterminding a gold-smuggling racket, I watched my restaurant burn to the ground, and I was diagnosed as having a heart flutter. On the other hand, I’ve now reached level 106 on Candy Crush Saga.
Sources: New Oxford American Dictionary, Collins COBUILD Primary Learner’s Dictionary, Dictionary of American Slang, Macquarie Dictionary