Kim,
>>The prompt: 400-word autobiography
Most of my childhood was spent sweating. I’d go flea market shopping or sit in my room, writing. I was OK in school, I guess.
I joined a band after high school and spent a year playing in Orlando before the band split. I moved to Buffalo and went to college for English.
Other things I did in Buffalo included:
(1) I lost my virginity. I counted as high as I could until it was over. I was unimpressed. And a little sore.
(2) I smoked pot for the first time. I sat on my dorm cot and listened to Dan Bern all day. Then I ate as much as I could.
(3) I befriended the guy who taught Ani Difranco how to play guitar. He drove me home from open mic on snowy nights.
(4) I met and fell in love with Liza.
Six months later we moved to Portland, Oregon. We got a studio apartment and a Boston terrier named Max. Then we broke up. I moved across the river and got a higher-paying job. Life was suddenly very cushy.
Six weeks later I was on an Amtrak headed for Manhattan.
I loved New York. I loved living in Harlem. I loved early morning train rides to Washington Square. I’d sit in a thick sweat with my bodega coffee and watch the junkies wake up.
Liza and I got back together and moved to Bed-Stuy. She got a job at a restaurant in the Village.
On 9/11 I came out of the train to watch the world change. Then with everyone else in the city, I ran like hell.
I was unemployed for a while after that and managed to develop a severe case of post-traumatic stress. Liza dumped me. The following summer, I booked some gigs and traveled for six weeks before my car broke down in Mississippi.
Reluctantly, I retreated to New Orleans where I got a job walking around, smiling and handing out maps.
After a while, that got old. I’d gained twenty-five pounds in nine months. It was time to clean up my act.
I moved back to Orlando. I worked days as a legal aide and nights in a kitchen. After six months, I decided to head back into the world on my own. With the onset of winter, I boarded a Greyhound bus and took a four-day jaunt to Seattle.
Kim—Age 27—Seattle
from 400 Words, Issue 1–Autobiographies
page 20
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