The Last Feeling
I had awoken in my shore house on Labor Day in the summer of 2000. I immediately got out of bed and started to clean the house. The rest of my housemates did the same. We vacuumed the carpets and swept the floors and than mopped them. We cleaned out our rooms and packed our clothes, some in wash baskets, some in suit cases. We put the garbage and recycling on the curb.
Than we each packed our cars with all of the stuff that we brought to the shore house. After the cars were packed and the house was practically empty, my housemates started to head for the parkway to go home. I don’t quite remember the order in which my friends left but I remember being the last. Since I was going to be the last to leave, I had to make sure everything was in the proper form and the doors were locked.
I walked back and forth through the house making sure everything was in order. Finally, I was satisfied with the house and felt comfortable to lock up and leave. I locked all of the windows throughout the house. When I completed this, I started to walk towards the front door which was straight through the living room. I took several steps through the living room towards the door. Then something happened. I found myself at a dead stop in the center of the living room.
I felt as if my feet were cemented to the floor, I could not walk any further; I could only rotate around like a carousel. That is when I noticed something that changed my life forever. Right there in the middle of the little living room of my shore house was the worst feeling that I had ever felt in my life.
There was absolutely nothing happening, no movements or sound, it was completely silent. You could not hear the club music on the radio that blasted all summer long. There was no one opening the fridge to grab a beer. There were no girls giggling, the guys weren’t busting each other’s chops. There was no sound at all.
I then tried to trick the feeling. I listened real hard to what was going on outside. It was still silent. The neighbors weren’t hanging out on their deck outside, laughing aloud as they did all year long. There was no sound of cars driving up and down the street. There was no wind blowing through the windows. It was completely silent.
The silence and deadness of me and my house triggered my mind to the opposite extremity. Still in the middle of the living room, I closed my eyes. There I saw flash-backs of the night before. I saw disco lights and water flying. I was soaked. I saw people standing on the bar and dancing. The music was blasting and everyone was smiling. I heard the chanting “one more” “one more.” Then I heard the chant “Denny”…. “Denny” The final chant “we’re not leaving”……….”we’re not leaving”…
I opened my eyes.
There I stood, in the middle of my living room Labor Day 2000. There was nothing but silence. It was all over. I was leaving. I wiped away a tear and walked out the door.
There are no excuses! Party Like A Rockstar!
~Moo
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