Perfect Day by Sebastian
Posted on 2006.09.13 at 13:09
Now please don't think I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but I wanted to celebrate the fact that one of my favourite Sebastian stories has finally gone online, and how best to celebrate that fact than by choosing a couple of quotes from it, just to demonstrate, if anyone needed it being demonstrated, the skill and beauty of her writing.
As with so many of Sebastian's stories it's almost impossible to choose individual quotes from Perfect Day because I love all of it. I did finally manage to choose the following quote partly because it always makes me want to cry and partly for the following reasons: it demonstrates many of Sebastian's skills in one short piece e.g. it's very visual and succeeds in dropping me right bang into the scene with Bodie and Doyle so that I too can feel the sun on my back and hear the 'innocent' noise of happy people on a sunny day; and then the innocence and the ordinary are suddenly juxtaposed with the erotic, with the shock and the wonder at the amazing emotional and physical closeness of these two men: one minute eating ice-cream and egg sandwiches but, but, but, the night was still to come. Sebastian is a great observer of people and can blend the most extraordinary with the mundane, with the ordinary, with allowing Bodie and Doyle to do everyday things and yet still fascinate us.
And the sadness attached to these happy memories, Doyle's yearning nostalgia - regret for what he had and for not realising that he had it at the time - they had been so happy - that phrase in particular and the sheer beauty of the whole scene cuts and hurts me every time I read it.
The zoo...
... had been a perfect day; warm sun on their backs, families and kids milling all around them, a thrill in the air. Rude comments about the blue-bottomed monkeys, egg sandwiches at a picnic table. They had ridden in the llama-cart eating ice-cream in a cone; Doyle had perched for a circuit on a camel, but Bodie refused, claiming exemption as the photographer. Doyle's camel-ride remained, however, unpreserved on celluloid; Bodie had been convulsed with laughter as he returned with great dignity, and quite unable to stand, much less speak.
They had been so *happy*. Doyle could taste the echoes of it now, felt the sun on his skin, the warmth of Bodie's smile; the arm slung around his back as the cart jolted and children screamed. And the night still to come.
Here were the remnants of the day: the happiness folded in on it and crammed into a drawer.
Doyle knelt where he was, and considered what he had lost..........
Or had he? Later,
He stopped, arrested: there in the little leather corner meant for your book of stamps was a photograph of himself. He took it out, held it in his fingers and looked at it.
He remembered this photograph being taken, and it had captured the flavour of the moment well. It was a flattering snap, too; the thing had a dreamy, soft-focus feel, though his eyes looked forth with impure intent; his mouth was just parted, his nipples alert, waiting for a finger to stir them. The snap ended at the navel which, he fancied, was just as well.
He closed the photograph within his palm. The smile lingered on his lips.
Funny old Bodie; exorcising all the rest, ruthless and clean. But he could not bear to part with this one. Looking at it from a new angle Doyle thought that maybe, just maybe, the magic never had gone. Maybe Bodie had shut the door on it himself.
As with so many of Sebastian's stories it's almost impossible to choose individual quotes from Perfect Day because I love all of it. I did finally manage to choose the following quote partly because it always makes me want to cry and partly for the following reasons: it demonstrates many of Sebastian's skills in one short piece e.g. it's very visual and succeeds in dropping me right bang into the scene with Bodie and Doyle so that I too can feel the sun on my back and hear the 'innocent' noise of happy people on a sunny day; and then the innocence and the ordinary are suddenly juxtaposed with the erotic, with the shock and the wonder at the amazing emotional and physical closeness of these two men: one minute eating ice-cream and egg sandwiches but, but, but, the night was still to come. Sebastian is a great observer of people and can blend the most extraordinary with the mundane, with the ordinary, with allowing Bodie and Doyle to do everyday things and yet still fascinate us.
And the sadness attached to these happy memories, Doyle's yearning nostalgia - regret for what he had and for not realising that he had it at the time - they had been so happy - that phrase in particular and the sheer beauty of the whole scene cuts and hurts me every time I read it.
The zoo...
... had been a perfect day; warm sun on their backs, families and kids milling all around them, a thrill in the air. Rude comments about the blue-bottomed monkeys, egg sandwiches at a picnic table. They had ridden in the llama-cart eating ice-cream in a cone; Doyle had perched for a circuit on a camel, but Bodie refused, claiming exemption as the photographer. Doyle's camel-ride remained, however, unpreserved on celluloid; Bodie had been convulsed with laughter as he returned with great dignity, and quite unable to stand, much less speak.
They had been so *happy*. Doyle could taste the echoes of it now, felt the sun on his skin, the warmth of Bodie's smile; the arm slung around his back as the cart jolted and children screamed. And the night still to come.
Here were the remnants of the day: the happiness folded in on it and crammed into a drawer.
Doyle knelt where he was, and considered what he had lost..........
Or had he? Later,
He stopped, arrested: there in the little leather corner meant for your book of stamps was a photograph of himself. He took it out, held it in his fingers and looked at it.
He remembered this photograph being taken, and it had captured the flavour of the moment well. It was a flattering snap, too; the thing had a dreamy, soft-focus feel, though his eyes looked forth with impure intent; his mouth was just parted, his nipples alert, waiting for a finger to stir them. The snap ended at the navel which, he fancied, was just as well.
He closed the photograph within his palm. The smile lingered on his lips.
Funny old Bodie; exorcising all the rest, ruthless and clean. But he could not bear to part with this one. Looking at it from a new angle Doyle thought that maybe, just maybe, the magic never had gone. Maybe Bodie had shut the door on it himself.