This Is What They Made It Out Of
tales from the end of the world
In scribbled notes, in lists – scraps of paper tell a life. So begins this collection of short pieces and poetry – some funny, some tragic, and some just small moments in time. With each stolen glimpse into the lives of this diverse cast of characters, the reader cannot help but wonder how much is fiction and how much is heartbreakingly not. A stolen scarf, a stolen moment, a flower, a legend or two, and the ability of silence to communicate more than language – a melancholy air threads through this patchwork of characters on the edge of discovery.
"Jack’s room doesn’t have a window – an oddity in the city, but there it is – so Jack has drawn, in oil crayons, a large window on the wall above his bed. Half of the view through this window is sunny and clear; the other half is rainy twilight. Jack has a half curtain rigged over the window, so he can choose which outside he is inside of.
One day Jack will decide to build a raft. He will take his table-door, make a sail from the curtain in his doorway, roll up his bed, and float away down the river. Jack will take his room with him but he will leave his window behind. And when the girl that Jack lives with but never sees shows the room to a potential tenant, she will say, 'This is Jack’s window. This is the window that Jack made.'"
"Jack’s room doesn’t have a window – an oddity in the city, but there it is – so Jack has drawn, in oil crayons, a large window on the wall above his bed. Half of the view through this window is sunny and clear; the other half is rainy twilight. Jack has a half curtain rigged over the window, so he can choose which outside he is inside of.
One day Jack will decide to build a raft. He will take his table-door, make a sail from the curtain in his doorway, roll up his bed, and float away down the river. Jack will take his room with him but he will leave his window behind. And when the girl that Jack lives with but never sees shows the room to a potential tenant, she will say, 'This is Jack’s window. This is the window that Jack made.'"