Aired Quarterly

story forty-seven · figures 139–141

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AIRED QUARTERLY · THE FILE, THINNING OVER ELEVEN YEARS — a flat held, aired, billed · the entries go from sentences to clauses to nothing AIRED QUARTERLY · THE FILE, THINNING OVER ELEVEN YEARS a flat held, aired, billed · the entries go from sentences to clauses to nothing year one writes SENTENCES · aired monthly year two SCHEDULE REDUCED to quarterly year four writes clauses year six moth: one, dealt with year nine "as year eight" year ten agrees with nine year eleven "as year ten" · forty pages, not one whole word how much the keeper writes, per year WHAT THE FILE RECORDS, LINE BY LINE · stair six: reported. not repaired. CHARACTER. · and the word was ticked at some point, by somebody · light: even · whoever drew the curtains to this exact gap had measured it · contents: as left · strips: renewed each spring · moth: none · year six: one, dealt with · aired monthly, year one · SCHEDULE REDUCED, YEAR TWO: QUARTERLY · a column headed SLEPT IN, years one to eleven, and the column bare all the way down — · THE STRAIGHTEST LINE IN THE BUILDING ON THE INSIDE COVER, STAMPED, NOT WRITTEN, IN INK GONE THE BROWN OF OLD TEA: A PLACE IS HELD. The same four words the leaflet uses, and the same four words the job board uses, on a stamp older than both. THE ACCOUNT COLUMN IS THE ONLY ONE THAT RUNS THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE PAGE WITHOUT A CHANGE OF HAND.
139 · Aired Quarterly
AIRED QUARTERLY · THE HOUR HE IS THERE, AND WHAT IT BECOMES — eleven years of maintenance, and the visit takes one hour and produces one line AIRED QUARTERLY · THE HOUR HE IS THERE, AND WHAT IT BECOMES eleven years of maintenance, and the visit takes one hour and produces one line THE KEY the box on the railing gives it up with a click, a full stop the door recognized the key WITH NO FEELING EITHER WAY THE SIXTH STAIR still speaks under weight reported · not repaired · character THE WARDROBE the coat for a different climate, facing the wall the way it had gone on being left, PROFESSIONALLY, eleven times THE BED he sits on it once, long enough to sit down and stand up THE SHEET KEPT THE SHAPE THE FORM date · duration · purpose PURPOSE LEFT BLANK, and accepted · the form had a box for declining THE ENTRY, NOT YET WRITTEN year twelve: attended. bed: sat on. strips: due spring. AS YEAR ELEVEN THE VISIT IS FILED BEFORE IT HAPPENS. THE FORM ALREADY KNOWS IT WILL READ: AS YEAR ELEVEN. Nobody does anything to him. A building waits, correctly, at a reduced schedule, and bills, and the drop from monthly to quarterly is dated to the same year as the Thursday nobody crossed out. HOLDING, STANDARD RATE, ELEVEN YEARS, PAID IN FULL AND CURRENT. NOTHING WAS OWED.
140 · Aired Quarterly
AIRED QUARTERLY · THE LINE THAT HAS BEEN WAITING ELEVEN YEARS — ruled and headed, and headed that way since the first page AIRED QUARTERLY · THE LINE THAT HAS BEEN WAITING ELEVEN YEARS ruled and headed, and headed that way since the first page THE VISIT, THIS TIME date · duration · purpose [BLANK, and the blank was accepted] received, and the premises left as found · requiring only a signature NEXT VISIT, EXPECTED and under it, in the early hand, before any of the thinning, somebody wrote a date who wrote the date the keeper, in year one · before "as year eight", before "as year ten" what they did afterward went on renewing the strips and airing the bed quarterly, for eleven years what the line has never held a visit · until today, which is year twelve what the account says paid in full and current · nothing was owed · that column never once changed hand what happens at the railing the box takes the key back with the same click · a full stop THAT HAD LEARNED NOTHING THE STREET WENT ON BEING A PHOTOGRAPH, AND UPSTAIRS THE LIGHT LAY EVEN ON THE SHEETED SHAPES, HELD, WHETHER OR NOT. THE MOST PATIENT CRUELTY IN THE BOOK: A BUILDING THAT WAITS CORRECTLY, AT A REDUCED SCHEDULE, AND BILLS.
141 · Aired Quarterly

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