Reading at the local coffee shop is not ideal for me. Initially I wanted to write today as I do each Tuesday here, but after eating lunch, I felt like reading.
Once settled in a back corner leather seat, I open No More Dragons, by Jim Burgen. My eyes scan the page for where I left off two days ago. Ah yes, here, my finger marks the spot and I begin reading about faith, while a horrible 1980 slow jam pipes through the speakers above me, immediately distracting me from the words on the page. I refocus and read the paragraph again. Tapping my foot to the song and silently singing the song, I have become distracted again. My finger searches for where I left off and I reread the sentence again, but the words are just words, letters on a page, they no longer have my attention. A new song comes on, oh I remember this from the movie Top Gun. My memory pulls up the scene in the movie and I briefly sing the lyrics in my head. Sliding the bookmark between the pages, my thumb releases the cover as I watch each page get swallowed, until I am looking at the cover again. I lay it on the table beside me, giving into the moment to allow distraction consume me, until the song ends.
As the florescent book cover glares at me from the table, I lean down and grasp the orange sleeve to my laptop, lift it from my bag, turn it on and begin writing. Like a bright light in my peripheral, the book tries to get my attention. I turn to look at it, read the cover as I have many times, look away and debate my next move.
Keystroke Stories 