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TFA: The Last Mention of Trout Fishing in America Shorty
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The Last Mention of Trout Fishing in America Shorty

Saturday was the first day of autumn and there was a festival being held at the church of Saint Francis. It was a hot day and the Ferris wheel was turning in the air like a thermometer bent in a circle and given the grace of music.

But all this goes back to another time, to when my daughter was conceived. We'd just moved into a new apartment and the lights hadn't been turned on yet. We were surrounded by unpacked boxes of stuff and there was a candle burning like milk on a saucer. So we got one in and we're sure it was the right one.

A friend was sleeping in another room. In retrospect I hope we didn't wake him up, though he has been awakened and gone to sleep hundreds of times since then.

During the pregnancy I stared innocently at that growing human center and had no idea the child therein contained would ever meet Trout Fishing in America Shorty.

Saturday afternoon we went down to Washington Square. We put the baby down on the grass and she took off running toward Trout Fishing in America Shorty who was sitting under the trees by the Benjamin Franklin statue.

He was on the ground leaning up against the right-hand tree. There were some garlic sausages and some bread sitting in his wheelchair as if it were a display counter in a strange grocery store.

The baby ran down there and tried to make off with one of his sausages.

Trout Fishing in America Shorty was instantly alerted, then he saw it was a baby and relaxed. He tried to coax her to come over and sit on his legless lap. She hid behind his wheelchair, staring past the metal at him, one of her hands holding onto a wheel.

"Come here, kid," he said. "Come over and see old Trout Fishing in America Shorty."

Just then the Benjamin Franklin statue turned green like a traffic light, and the baby noticed the sandbox at the other end of the park.

The sandbox suddenly looked better to her than Trout Fishing in America Shorty. She didn't care about his sausages any more either.

She decided to take advantage of the green light, and she crossed over to the sandbox.

Trout Fishing in America Shorty stared after her as if the space between them were a river growing larger and larger.


Richard Brautigan
Trout Fishing in America