Monday, March 20, 2006

Broken-Hearted Mountain

Ennis Del Mar lifted Jack's shirt. It seemed heavy until he saw there was another shirt inside it, the sleeves carefully worked down inside the outer sleeves. It was his own plaid shirt, lost, he'd thought, long ago in some damn laundry, his dirty shirt, the pocket ripped, buttons missing, stolen by Jack and hidden here inside Jack's own shirt, the pair like two skins, one inside the other, two in one. He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly through his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Years passed. He buttonned Jack's shirt, now folded under Ennis', the photo of Brokeback tilted to one side.
Jack had left but Ennis never did.
"Jack, I swear. . ."

Tears only heard.

Anonymous said...

gosh!, u guys can be sooo drama queen lar......

BravingKL said...

yeap, Oscar material, mind you.

Anonymous said...

next braving is going to post about Crash!

btw, the extension of Ennis' story is sung in the soundtrack or the songs during the credits roll after the movie - love that never grow old

Anonymous said...

hands up those who think the short story was better than the film.. *raises left hand*

BravingKL said...

some affairs of the heart are clearer and more impactful with words. that's what blogs are about I guess. *raises all limbs*

Anonymous said...

precisely.. that and also the fact that anyone can divulge their darkest secrets (or wildest fantasies) to the world without ever letting on who they really are.. catharsis under a safe veil perhaps.. :)
p.s. have a great week ahead in foreign-land..

BravingKL said...

My veil has got holes in it though, so sometimes parts of my facial features may show. Can't worry too much I suppose.

Anonymous said...

perhaps holes in veil is intentional.. a subconscious way of exposing yourself maybe.. ahem, 'exposing' in a figurative sense, that is..

BravingKL said...

*blush*

Anonymous said...

"is that a joystick, or are you just happy to see me?" asks the stranger to the holey-veiled cowboy