Pure Dirt by Francis Adams

Author:Francis Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2020-09-16T18:21:44+00:00

Chapter Five:

The Red Firetruck

The winter was uneventful except that old man Schreiber’s dog bit the mailman and had to be quarantined resulting in a burglary, President Nixon refused to hand over the Watergate tapes, Daylight Savings Time commenced four months earlier than usual, and Samuel Byck attempted to hijack a plane and crash it into the White House. He committed suicide when police stormed the plane. The price of gold rose from thirty-five dollars, when Nixon took the currency off the gold standard, to one-hundred and fifty-six dollars. The value of paper money was no longer tied to the precious element. The minimum wage rose to one dollar and sixty cents. Inflation continued to spiral out of control all around the world. The Kootenai Native American Tribe declared war on the United States, but they were assuaged when permitted to erect a toll booth along US highway 95.

The Filmnuts continued their weekly meetings, planning for the June film festival. Leonard Tchotchke created an abstract film of changing colors using crumpled up aluminum foil placed in front of a black backdrop. He used a four-color motorized wheel with a flood light that is typically used to illuminate silvered aluminum Christmas trees. He explained that his flop-flop was a simulated acid trip elevated by the instrumental music of Pink Floyd. Orson created a film in front of the vending machines in the cafeteria, walking robotically with a blue light bulb protruding from his mouth. He recorded the sound of a computer printer, and he narrated the film in his expressionless computer voice: “I am not programmed to respond to that request. Sorry, I am X32, the upgrade. Your request does not compute.” Johnny Lumens, the bright one, explored the world of stop motion animation using a burger, fries and cup of soda. Moving the objects between each exposure, the meal appeared to devour itself. Jane worked on the soul dancers, and Hank filmed the ice-covered trees during the enormous blizzard that shut down the eastern seaboard in February.

Jack Malloy drove to work in his in-law’s pizza delivery wagon. He held the wheel with his left hand and pinched a cigarette between his index and middle finger. He drove slower than the speed limit, which allowed him time to think out loud to himself. Carol tasked him with a list of chores to follow before he returned home. He finished his smoke and drowned the butt in a half-filled Styrofoam coffee cup. Stopping by the Tower, he buzzed Jane’s apartment and drove with her to school. He wrote out the lesson plan on a mimeograph sheet. Walking to the utility room, he waited as the machine rolled with a rhythmic clicking sound. Gathering the lesson sheets, he returned to the classroom. His daily routine always began an hour before anyone else had arrived in the building.

“This week were going to watch a documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid directed by George Roy Hill. The film was shot on location between Durango and Silverton, Colorado, and parts of Mexico.

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