Another Day
Was it morning already? wondered Marcus. God, it seemed like he had only just gone to bed. Was it something to do with yesterday? What a rotten day! The break up of yet another relationship. “What is wrong with me?” he said to himself. “Why don’t they last?”
Still, it was nice to sleep alone again. There was no grunting or snoring, no hogging the duvet, no rolling around in the middle of the night, no huffs and puffs, sudden arguments, or crying. Relationships were hard work. And besides the obvious – bill and rent sharing, occasional laughter, and regular sex – he wasn’t too sure what the benefits were. You put a lot in, and you got out – exactly what?
Yesterday’s conversation went something like this:
Marcus: “How was your day, honey?”
Squeeze X: “Why should you care, idiot?”
Marcus: “Because I love you, sweetheart.”
Squeeze X: “Well it was worse than yesterday, and better than tomorrow, asshole.”
Marcus: “Don’t be so cheerless, love.”
Squeeze X: “Well what do you suggest, you donkey?”
Marcus: “Don’t be so mean; it doesn’t suit you, beautiful.”
Squeeze X: “Fuck off and get out of my life forever, you total dickhead.”
Who could understand women? thought Marcus. Maybe he should put an ad in the paper to form a male support group. Maybe start Fight Club in Lucerne? Or maybe just continue to focus on his brain training. There was no girl now to send his waves astray.
Marcus got up and thumped across the wooden floor. He splashed his face, eyes, and nose with warm water, and did some gargles. The splashing water was comforting and refreshing, and put him in a new state of mind. Like tides washing over him periodically, he felt the long motions of Delta waves.
He pulled on a T-shirt and sauntered to the kitchen, where he filled his old-fashioned kettle from the repurposed 18.9L gas station bottles he used to bring home bubbling spring water. The kettle boiled slowly; its bubbles appearing gently, and then ascending; moving faster than the long tides earlier; now slow Theta waves.
He mixed half a cup of oatmeal with a cup of water and a cup of milk, added a spoon of sugar and a pinch of salt, and turned up the heat. His signature porridge took a while to heat up, but soon got busy. Within two minutes it was bubbling like crazy, making loud pops, and throwing out droplets of searing mush. A steamy fatness filled the air. His relaxed state of mind responded and was fully awake, in flowing Alpha waves.
Marcus followed his usual routine, but this morning felt different. Things were somehow easier and lighter. Waiting for his porridge to cool, Marcus performed his regular stretching routine: a mix of athletics and kung fu warm-ups. Their easy movements required concentration, producing Beta waves.
He wondered if this mental state could have caused his girlfriend-till-yesterday to respond differently today. Here was the rerun:
Marcus: “How was your day, honey?”
Squeeze X: “Oh, it was alright. Why do you ask?”
Marcus: “Because I love you, sweetheart.”
Squeeze X: “But it made me so sad to spend the whole day away from you.”
Marcus: “Don’t be so cheerless, love.”
Squeeze X: “Sorry, but compared to you, my warrior-prince, every man is a warty toad.”
Marcus: “Don’t be so mean; it doesn’t suit you, beautiful.”
Squeeze X: “Come and kiss me right now, my heart burns for you.”
He felt a strange power developing; not instant power, but latent power. Charges were coupling and building, like a storm arising. While twisting his body, reaching his right hand across to his left side, the hand didn’t stop and kept going. Then his left hand, reaching across to his right side, also didn’t stop and kept going. His hips kept circling clockwise, even when their direction reversed. When his arms rotated like propellers, they didn’t stop either, even when their directions reversed. His shoulders kept moving in opposite directions, and his head rotating both ways. He felt like a circus performer, spinning hoops and plates. There was a little too much going on for his liking; crazy chaos all around; a jumbled whirlpool spinning outwards, with centripetal force, in an endless flowing. These Gamma waves were too much for Marcus to handle.
Whether he slowed the motions, or they slowed of themselves, he couldn’t say. They acquired gentler rhythms; he became restful; though they continued spinning somewhere beyond. These were his natural Mu waves.
Marcus had run a full Wave Test this morning; the first one in weeks. He had moved from slow Delta, through drowsy Theta, relaxed Alpha, active Beta, into crazy Gamma, and appreciated the background testing of Mu waves.
His relaxed solo state this morning was a blessing. It allowed him awareness of his full cycle of rhythmic and transient activity. There were fewer biological artifacts – her bothering his eyes, heart, and muscles in bed – and environmental artifacts – interference from her laptop, cell phone, and iPod. Now his girlfriend was gone, his brain once more exerted centralized control over his body’s organs.
babarjaved.com 
February 19, 2012 at 4:06 am
On the use of semicolons versus commas: a comma is better when there is a continuation of a thought, with short pause. A semicolon is usually read as if it were a period, so
“kettle boiled slowly, its bubbles . .”
“restful, though they continued . . .”
“morning, the first one in weeks . . .”
“didn’t stop and kept going” One of the statements is redundant.