I was on Xanax, alone, watching
Space Jam on my computer, when, towards the end of the movie, at 6:00AM, after
my alarm clock made a noise, I realized the relationship between loneliness and
independence. It was not an epiphany, not rock bottom, but something unexpected
and clear, an experience that, like Michael Jordan's acting, was right
because it was wrong. As I watched the sun crawl through the blinds, the crisp
morning air pinning my skin, drying my cheeks, I felt a smile bleed across my
face, stretching, gliding, maybe, away from apathy, sarcasm, and death, in the
direction of something beautiful and vague, squishy – happy.
Kenta Maniwa
Fast Machine
Elizabeth Ellen