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Michelle Swisz

This month's Drabble, on the theme of not knowing, was written, again, by Anonymous.

I don't know what to do now. Do I do anything? The court date is next month—it will decide my income for the next six months or so. I can prepare for that, but the decision isn't mine. Will I have to move? How will my health be, if I move? There's no way to know any of this now. Meanwhile, I see and talk to friends, go to holiday parties, concentrate on schoolwork, attend a football game, have lunch with my brother. Somehow, whatever the outcome, I am convinced that this will help, that it is helping.

It's been another one of those months for me. I've been taking a class at the university after having last been there 18 years ago—how strange it is to see the same old buildings, and even some of the same people, yet so much has changed! Little things, such as the fact that there's no pub on campus anymore. Actually, I didn't go there, though—I hung out at the Student Union, as I did again last evening, running into someone from my class and chatting awhile, just like in the old days. And somewhat bigger things have changed. As I sat on a cement wall looking up from my book today, all three people in my line of sight held cell phones to their ears. We're so used to seeing cell phones these days that it's not thought of much, except at times like today, for me, when the contrast between then and now is so huge. I guess we listened to the birds, or each other, 18 years ago; I don't remember anything at all going into or covering or being held to anyone's ears.

I'm finding professors now even more helpful now than I remember them to be. Maybe that's because back then I didn't need the sort of help that I do now—these days I've got short-term memory loss. My professor helps by checking after each class that I've written down the assignment for the next session. Without that, I wouldn't ever get through. I remember professors helping in other ways, with books and articles to read, and often with ideas to discuss. One, who died just this past year, once when I went to his office in tears, pulled out an article that demonstrated the use of quotations in poetry essays well enough to pull my grade up to an A after I'd thoroughly made a mess of the first paper.

How do you see the changes that have gone on in your world during the past half of your life or so? The theme is changes in your world, to be submitted to drabble@wvu.org after reading these guidelines. In summary, the guidelines say that submissions are due within ten days after this ezine is delivered, and that they are to be 100 words exactly, excluding the title. Happy Holidays, and see you next time!

About the Author
Hello, and welcome to Drabbles. I'm Michelle, your Drabbles editor. I live south of San Francisco, with four spoiled cats, near the sea where I love to walk every day. I've tutored English in workshops, classrooms, and individually at San Jose State University, and have worked on the Fiction Panel here at Writers' Village. Comments and questions are always welcome!