As Quiet as the Day

Things are quiet now. Kristina's iPod has gone to sleep. Aside from some street noise — a passing siren or a honking horn — the only music in our office comes from the printer. Soon these coarse black and whites will be colorful glossies. These proofs will grow to be the pages you turn.

While subscribers wait for their September issues to arrive, we celebrate the completion of October. We're very happy with the way it's grown. Its life seems to predict the weather; it's an unusually cool summer day.

Holding the young pages in my hands, I begin to ask, "When was the last time we had a..."

"Chick on the cover?" JA completes my thought.

"Yeah," I say.

"Um... never."

"Well, this is an important time."

***

The printer quits its song,
and Elizabeth goes by,

gathering the last few bits
of the month.

COMMENTS
Ward's picture

Is that an intentional tease, or you going to tell us why you have a girl (and also notably, a human, the first I recall seeing in the two years that I've been a subscriber), and who she is?

Stephen Mejias's picture

Yes, it's totally a tease. And, now that I've teased, I've also built expectations. Sorry about that.I don't want to give anything away. I don't think your expectations will be met (which is to say: It's not what you think), but I don't think you'll be disappointed either.When I started to ask," ""When was the last time we had a..."""," I was actually going to say ""person on the cover."" We haven't had one in the time that I've been here. I don't know when the last time actually was.

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