The blue beyond the hills teems and mist slides down the mountains.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
On Todd Field, six friends sit looking at the hills. It\u2019s evening\u00a0and the sun is beginning to\u00a0disappear\u00a0behind the trees. The grass is damp but not too wet to sit on. It bends in the wind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Friday. What are we going to do?,\u201d one says. He twirls a blade of grass around his finger and rips it from the ground. He stares at it for a moment, then lets it fall.
\nOne by one, they shrug.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could play a game,\u201d one says. She\u2019s remembering the deck of cards she bought from Target one night.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike Clue? Or Scrabble?\u201d another says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr Uno.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t played that trivia game in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr there\u2019s Hangman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr Pictionary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could watch a movie,\u201d one says, pulling her hands into the arms of her sweater.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn campus or at an actual theatre?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEither one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to spend money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could just go out to dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKorean barbecue?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDim sum.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like dim sum.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t like anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
They go on.<\/p>\n
\u00a0*<\/p>\n
A panting golden retriever runs into a reading group, with a tennis ball in its mouth. It circles twice then runs back to its owner, who calls it from the pathway.<\/p>\n
A group of students have started a baseball game. One sends the ball flying into the trees.<\/p>\n
In the music building, a pianist plays Satie\u2019s Gymnop\u00e9die<\/em> while a thoughtful audience of one listens outside the door.<\/p>\n A cup drops in the S.U.B. and falls down a flight of stairs. Fellow diners applaud.<\/p>\n A student types at a computer, alone in the library. Her typing does not penetrate the silence.<\/p>\n A man sleeps at the base of a tree. An acorn falls beside him. A squirrel climbs the trunk and crawls onto a branch.<\/p>\n A girl and her girlfriend slip into a car, turn the headlights on, and pull onto the street. They pass a man walking his golden retriever.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Time will pass if we sit here and watch the mist creep down the mountainside, and the blue beyond the hills will slowly fade away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The blue beyond the hills teems and mist slides down the mountains. * On Todd Field, six friends sit looking at the hills. It\u2019s evening\u00a0and the sun is beginning to\u00a0disappear\u00a0behind the trees. The grass is damp but not too wet … Continue reading