Second Person, Present tense

(Written Friday 18^th January 2013; 16:45)

This is an exercise. I’m writing to you. You may know who I am. I may know you. If you do, then you know that parts of this are made up. On the other hand, maybe they are real too. Two aspects of writing which I hardly ever use are “second person” – You and “present tense”. I have decided to combine the two into this passage, as an exercise. I expect the result to be mildly uncomfortable both in the writing and the reading. I hope it will have a kind of immediacy. We’ll see!

I’ve planned this passage in my head. Not word for word, but the headings and the flow. I’m going to try and write it in one go, with little or no correction except for obvious mistakes and spelling errors.

Here I am, sitting looking across at you. The room is dark, lit only by the coals glowing in the grate and the hurricane lamp standing on the mantelpiece.  Some while ago you told me that you had taken to wearing a dressing gown. In my mind’s eye I have transformed this into a luxurious robe; the fabric is embroidered with a rich pattern which I can’t make out properly in the darkness. The collar and cuffs are trimmed with ermine. You are sitting in a high wing-backed chair, to the right of the fireplace and you have an embroidered smoking cap on you head. The tassel of the cap is hanging down on the side nearest me. Naturally, you’re smoking. Perhaps you’re surprised to learn that you are smoking a churchwarden pipe, which is long enough to sit comfortably in your right hand which is resting on the arm of the your chair. Each time you inhale I can see the tobacco in the bowl of the pipe glow brightly and then the brightness subsides.

On your feet you are wearing large fluffy “Garfield” slippers. I don’t know why I should think that you are, but it seems appropriate.

Maggie is sitting on your lap. From time to time I can see the firelight reflected in her eyes.  It is a strange mixture of colours; red when it reflects from the surface of the eyes and green when it reflects from the back (the retina). She is smoking a pipe as well. She has her left paw tucked under her and her right paw is in front of the, supporting the pipe. Naturally, her pipe is a little smaller. It has a meerschaum bowl with what I think is a curved amber stem.

I am sitting on the settee in front of the fire. The room seems to be a little larger than I remembered it, but that is a strange effect of the darkness. Outside the area illuminated by the fire it is difficult to see the boundaries of the room. In my imagination it could reach out to infinity. I don’t think it does because it does not feel cold. Maybe it should feel cold, because I get the impression that it is snowing outside.

On the table beside you there is a glass. When you lift it the amber liquid catches the firelight and sparkles.

If it is snowing outside, it must be winter. It is not cold in here. Everything is calm and comfortable.

(Finished 17:10, Pages: 1, Words: 569)