Chapter 97
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Private Message | EchoZone Internal Chat
To: DeadStrings
Subject: Re: Cooking lessons
I had to laugh—Allegra tolerates no one and nothing, but I think she might find Otis amusing in the way cats find dogs mildly pitiful but entertaining.
She pretends to be above it all, but then gets caught pawing at your cassette ribbon like she wasn’t just judging your life choices five minutes ago.
But here’s the thing: I think they could get along.
Mostly because they’d share a particular kind of disdain.
For instance, they might both hate it if I play sad songs on repeat.
Allegra gives me this look that says, ‘You’re being melodramatic again,’ then she sits on the tape deck like a protest. Maybe Otis would just drop a toy in your lap, or bark until you change the song.
Music—they’d bond over that. Or at least over their humans who make everything a little too emotional when they cue up Leonard Cohen at midnight.
(Yes, I’m looking at you. Bowie was a gentler punch to the ribs but still left a bruise. In a good way.)
Also—I like that you’re imagining them meeting. That’s not nothing. That’s someday. You’re letting your brain go there, and I don’t think you realize how much that means.
Now, question: Are your cooking lessons teaching you anything useful yet? Can you fry an egg without starting a small fire?
Song for today: “I Know” by Fiona Apple.
Some days, I don’t feel like explaining why I feel the way I do, but I still want someone to get it.
Talk soon—