Vicarious Living

by Carter Maddox

We laughed together one time when the guy next door played his ukelele and we could hear it through the walls and you made a crass joke about the music being what it would sound like if Michael J. Fox were given a stringed instrument. I've watched you and your girlfriend begin a relationship, fall into one and then fall in love; I've laughed with her, too. I sit on my bed and watch you, roommate, be someone I wish I could be. You've got the outlook and attitude, the romantic partner, the mind. You're the on-your-toes entertainer, acting, living; I'm the journaler, analyzing, studying, imitating. And I like watching you, I like watching, I like watching.

6S

Carter Maddox is a playwriting student.