Dust and Lists

1. Maggie and Ryan were organizing the pantry in their house on the plains when a dust storm erupted through an open window. Their list, a meticulous inventory of pastas and pickled vegetables became irreparably obscured by all the dust that breached their home. Ryan squinted hard through his glasses, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of the dusty list. They started over, once again counting their goods from scratch.

2. Maggie was out of her depth when it came to baking her sister’s wedding cake. The cake was to be multiple tiers and complexly flavored. Maggie was studying the recipe in her hands by the gravel road. A truck drove past her, stirring up a lot of dust which corrupted the recipe’s surface. Ryan tried reading the recipe, he couldn’t. He joined Maggie in the kitchen. They tried their best to bake the cake without a recipe. The resulting cake didn’t taste good or look right.

3. Tyler was 8 years old and he loved Christmas; he loved Christmas so much that he would bother his mother Maggie with Christmas lists as early as August. By November, Tyler’s list had been lost and forgotten under the couch for months. When Maggie finally found the list, it was indecipherable, covered in dust. Ryan tried to wash his son’s Christmas list. It was destroyed by the water. On Christmas morning, Tyler opened gifts he didn’t want.

4. It was time to celebrate. Ryan and Maggie’s guest list was placed on their nightstand below the mantel. Ryan was dusting the mantel. His elbow first bumped an open jar of Elmer’s Glue off the ledge, then fell the dust that he was dusting. In one motion the dust had adhered itself to the guest list. Not Maggie, nor Ryan, not even Tyler could read the list of names they had intended to invite to their party. So they invited the people they could think of off the top of their heads. The guests who came to the party were the wrong people and the party wasn’t fun.

5. Tyler grew up and fell in love with the girl down the street. He was walking along the dirt road with a list of reasons why he loved the girl in his hands. You are very sweet, easy to talk to, very pretty, you smell nice… a dust storm came and engulfed Tyler’s list and body. By the time he made it to Linda’s front door, she had no idea who he was or what his piece of paper said. Tyler’s mouth was too dry and full of dust to make a sound. He walked back home, thinking to himself I guess this thing with dust and lists continues with me.