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The Girl Who Dances on Telephone Wire

Is she crazy or are we?

By Jesse JamesPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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It's almost 3 AM and I haven't cried or smoked at all tonight. Not willing to stand my non-blurred vision or my non-ashen lungs, I head outside to rebel against my own form. As much as I revel in the shocked reactions of everyone who catches me smoking, I will not be caught crying. I head up to my roof and wait, something good should happen soon. This part of town is known for one thing and it's definitely not the quiet inhabitants. Lighting my cigarette and getting ready to break again I hang my legs over the side of the roof. It's so cold out here tonight that I can feel my hands going numb pretty quickly. I wish it was colder. Instead of a fight, however, there's only a girl wearing nothing but a t-shirt. jeans and black shoes walking down the sidewalk. She keeps stopping at telephone poles looking them up and down as if checking for any imperfections. As soon as the girl gets to the corner where she would leave my range of vision she starts climbing the last pole after checking it out extensively. I don't know what to think at first honestly; this seemingly normal kid, maybe around my age, started scooting her way up a telephone pole. By the time she gets to the top, I just want to know what she plans to do. Could she be trying to kill herself? Is she doing some out of the way tagging? No, she makes her way to the top and balances on the end of the pole curtsying while still looking straight forward. I don't even remember when I started crying but I felt the cold liquid slide down my face watching her gracefully wonder her way onto the wires. This girl was able to slide her way to the middle of the wire without getting her entire system reset by however many volts were running through it. As I stared, awestruck by this graceful girl she began to dance, not just dance, but perform a slow graceful pirouette. Then she began to alternate which foot was touching the wire all the while spinning slowly around and around. I sat and watched her for what felt like hours and I began to think. What if she is crazy? But an entirely new thought had entered my head, even if she is crazy her slow methodical movements make it clear she knows exactly the insanity of her actions. This girl dancing on live wires is certifiably insane but at least she knows it. Could I be just as crazy yet not as enlightened to my situation? I recede into my mind for a moment and think about my own life. I come up here every night and follow the same routine of crying and burning through my lungs. Would I look crazy to a passive observer? I don't know this girl and still, I feel a connection in a strange way, I focus back in on her just as she lowers herself and tucks her head between her knees. All I can do is stare in bewilderment as she expertly propels herself into the air spinning so many times I lost count. She lands on foot in front of the other and bows to an empty street even blowing a kiss for added effect. I finish my cigarette and pull another from the box as I watch her slow descent down from the telephone pole, this time she seemed more jerky in her movements and even timid. Had she seen me watching her? If she had then she didn't show it at all, as she reached the ground I could see her begin shifting on her feet and uncertainly walk around the corner and disappear.

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