Quirk

I have a friend called Victoria and she observes people and then writes and sketches in a flowered notebook with ribbons securing it shut and blank pages. She speaks really quietly and sort of tries to get out what she wants to say as quickly as possible, covering her mouth with a relaxed hand but always smiling. I like her a lot. She notices important things about people. She sort of makes me think – like the time, a while ago, when she said ‘Everybody’s lovely’. If it wasn’t Victoria that said it, I would’ve thought to myself – ‘How cliche’, but now that I come to think about it, with a heart full like a balloon full of helium about to rise into the air, she’s right. It’s easy to go through life anticipating a trip-up. The thing is, it’s all physics. What I mean is, people meet, like two waves going towards each other at the same frequency and wavelength and get caught up. This forms a standing wave – it doesn’t move. There’s the maxima, the parts that oscillate wildly up and down – the anti nodes. There’s the minima, the parts in the middle that stay the same. They are what we look for. The minima. The parts that stay the same - even though both waves are moving.

-Tallie