On December 11th, I went to the final installment of “There Will be Words” for 2012 at Urban ReThink, (625 East Central Boulevard, Orlando).  Officially it was the end of the second year of these monthly readings by local authors. Jesse Bradley was the host.  The authors who read this month were,

Hunter Choate,
Rachel Kolman,
Jonathan Kosik,
and Leslie Salas

Flirt. 

I sketched from my perch on the second floor balcony.  I liked Jonathan Kosik’s story titled “Pensacola.” The story told was of pristine sand beaches turned into hazardous sites by thick merciless oil from a spill in the Gulf. Men in hazmet suits worked tractors that pushed the black sand up and down the beachfront.  Lifeguard stations stood empty. As the well spilled into the Gulf, the narrator tried to reach his wife by phone. There were irreconcilable differences. Lawyers sent papers that needed signing. 223 calls had been made. “A long drawn out period of litigation, mixed with harassment charges, would only delay the cleanup of what had turned into an ugly situation.” Experts believe the Gulf might restore itself in 50 years. For those who lived through the damage, the loss would last a lifetime.

On display at ReThink was a black dress on a manikin made entirely of plastic garbage bags.  The plastic was folded into ornate roses that decorated the bust and lower skirt of the dress. Dina Mack pointed out that the dress had a zipper in back and, if you were thin enough, you could wear it. I imagine it would get rather hot especially in the Florida sun. The International Academy of Design and Technology assigned groups of students to design the dresses. They were on display at various Thornton Park businesses. The schools slogan is “You imagine, we get you there.”

The next “There Will be Words” will be on February 12th at Urban ReThink. Authors mingle around 6PM and the readings begin around 7PM. You never know what stories might surface or sink beneath the black waves.