13 - Big Two-Hearted River

Exercise 13: Patterns/Used Literature/Big Two-Hearted River: "Write another version of this great story originally published in the collection In Our Time. [...] Be faithful to the Hemingway original, but you will clearly want to make this story your own [...] 750 words."

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So I read this story once back in like... March. I don't really remember it, just bits.

On the train the man slept, light through windows new shadows and faces. The compartment suffered a slight scent, and when he woke up he thought it might be his own body. The train stopped and he grabbed his luggage. Standing on the platform he looked ahead of him.

He saw:
a lake, long dirt roads, dead trees, a forest, slight hills, a complete lack of people or commerce, no cars, a struggling dog in the train's parking lot, a couple empty packs of cigarettes (he bent over to check), a broken 40, and a stop sign.

Later, walking down the road, birds didn't chirp and the air smelled like chemicals. He wondered if he'd be able to catch anything to eat in the lake. He had a few ph-level strips left in his pack and knew that that was all he had to count on for a while. He could risk only testing once a week, but if the radiation came late he'd have no way to tell (the phosphorous glow would only appear in affected bodies of water a week and a half after infection).

The dead sun beating down on the road was giving him a headache, so he decided to cut into the trees. He could reach the lake by following the breeze he expected to find. Once he got closer he would be able to smell the dead life on the shore.

* * *

He pitched his tent in a clearing in the forest a dozen meters from the lake. The mosquitoes were all dead. The sweat dripping from his body pooled in a shallow divot the tarp of the tent's bottom pushed. Even though the sky was pushing the heat of 99+ degrees, he lit a fire to heat up his canned goods. His beans tasted like beans.

He gathered a collection of heavy rocks. He surrounded himself with the rocks, locating himself at the exact center of the circle. He jerked off thinking about rimjobs and hairy assholes. His dick throbbed in the heat. Come spilled into the dust. Flies swarmed the wet and buzzed with the air. He pulled his pants up and walked to the river. [...............................
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* * *

He had only six testing strips left and was afraid of snakes. He had seen a whole near the beach where he waded to find what he was eating. Since the ocean had flooded the land all bodies of water were salt. He ate a sea urchin, saving the black spines to prick his blood later, knowing that his idea of the poison would save him from toxic breath. When he broke the shell he heard a scream.

He couldn't decide if he were actually afraid of the snake or not. He hadn't seen it yet, and wasn't even sure that it was around. It could be a hole from before the sky melted, he thought out loud. I should do a system of exercises to prepare.

And so he ran around the forest counting bee hives, lusting for honey. He did pull ups on steady tree branches and his hands bled with thorns. A set of crunches found his back covered in dirt.

He washed himself off in the lake, leaving his underwear on for protection, fearing the disposal of his genitalia.

At night he slept.

* * *

[[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]the man floated about the ground on his tent //// floatedintotheskyhelddownbytarp /// theskytheskyitself burns green and blue floatingfloating [krafataglabch].......................................................................heheardtheshoutingfromthesky///notheground///he heard the shouts from near by///////saw the outline of figures no////[alone]xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[insearchofanelusivesecretWHATEVER]...........................................................................................................................................................hecouldfeelitthelight///but not by himself, could feel Another///nojusthimself[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]///////whatistheshapeofyourbody//////.....................................willlitfitordoesitfloat.......................[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]/////sunburn,fallen///"iknowwhatnothingis"///[xxxxxxx]........................................................[xxxxxxxxxxxxx]///[maintaining]aloveof...................secret[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]//............................................................................................................................................]

* * *

I don't remember how the story ends.

The man will continue to sleep and fish and survive until he runs out of testing strips. He will then fear the river and move on. He will find himself standing on the platform at the train station struck by the absence of wind. After several days of waiting the train will come. He will spend $7 on a train ticket and ride until he arrives at a town. He will work in the town for money and when he has an amount of money he will return to a forest by a lake which holds the ocean. Until the sun comes too close.