Established Marvel : a Monk by Abbreviation

190. 'WHY ARE YOU STILL LIVING IN THE PROVINCES?'

'All to result in the usual static I'm still thinking of you and wish you were here' that was the cryptic note left on my shelf by someone who never identified herself until much later - when I found out it was left by an occasional and passing girlfriend/acquaintance the realization of which left me almost quivering with anxiety - we'd not seen each other in some time and she'd been to Paris and Berlin since then while I'd remained mired in my little stewpot of work and place and by contrast my lack of glamor to her world-weary adventuring seemed ridiculous and made it seem ever-foolish for her to even want to say hello - which she did eventually - along with all the concomitant small-talk and note-comparing which always goes on in such situations : she'd brought back a new boyfriend - someone named David - and they were soon to be married which also was OK with me and then they planned some move to someplace in New England together so she could work and study some more at Skowhegan - which was some form of artists' colony in Maine and I wished her well and was glad to be seeing that she'd be on her way and onto something better and bigger : everything between us was over and had been and even my newer understandings of what she was about didn't make much sense anymore and besides that I really no longer cared - just that plain and simple - and once you can realize that I guess you can get along far better and we kissed chastely and said good-bye and she was on her way - never heard from since.