One gives notice. Another grins and abides. The one no longer interested in content, the other insisting on diary entries reaffirming his firm grip on reality. One is motionless, the other still moves about. One accepts but withdraws, the other complains, and even though there’s little to complain about, finds a way to complain about that too. One prays in an empty space, the other watches the news in a room full of knickknacks and memorabilia no one remembers. One drifts, the other plans outings.

One falls silent, another gets up and talks. One is more interested in conversations without words. One deactivates, the other continues to like and comment and, in short, feels engaged.

One stops the vertical fall and the horizontal push, and edges fall away. Another scrolls up and down and takes cuts.

The one never did make sense, the other insists on making sense.

 Joe Linker blogs at The Coming of the Toads. Republished here thanks to CC. Image is a detail from a Randy Rizo photograph (Unsplash).