{"id":4017,"date":"2012-08-16T12:17:53","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T16:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?page_id=4017"},"modified":"2012-08-16T12:17:53","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T16:17:53","slug":"when-paul-flew-away","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/when-paul-flew-away\/","title":{"rendered":"When Paul Flew Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was the same as always<br \/>\nPaul opening the big, black lung<br \/>\nof it with that worried look<br \/>\nwhile the cats watched<br \/>\nfrom under the stove,<br \/>\nbut when he closed<br \/>\nhis eyes and begun to sink<br \/>\ndown between the straps<br \/>\nof his bib overalls,<br \/>\nit was like he died. Except<br \/>\nthe accordion was still breathing<br \/>\na waltz between his hands,<br \/>\nexcept he called back<br \/>\nto us every so often<br \/>\nfrom wherever he was, \u201cShit.\u201d<br \/>\nWhich meant everything<br \/>\nhe had ever known<br \/>\nin his life up to that<br \/>\nmoment, but this song.<br \/>\nNo some sock-drawer<br \/>\nmusic of getting a tune out<br \/>\nand then rummaging<br \/>\nfor the chord to match,<br \/>\nbut together, exactly like<br \/>\nhe was breathing the thing<br \/>\nhimself. No stomping<br \/>\neither, just Paul twisting<br \/>\nlike he was after some deep<br \/>\nitch, only right then<br \/>\nhe was starting to lift<br \/>\nout of his chair. Slowly<br \/>\nat first, like flypaper<br \/>\nin a small breeze, then<br \/>\nthe whole enormous weight<br \/>\nof him hanging over the sink. God,<br \/>\nhe was happy, and I<br \/>\nand the kids was laughing<br \/>\nand happy, when all<br \/>\nat once it come to me,<br \/>\nthis is it. Paul is leaving<br \/>\nthe old Barcalounger<br \/>\nstuck in second<br \/>\nposition, and the TV on top<br \/>\nof the TV that don\u2019t<br \/>\nwork, and all my hand-paintings<br \/>\nof strawberries as if he never<br \/>\nsaid this would be Strawberry Farm.<br \/>\n\u201cHey!\u201d I said out in the yard<br \/>\nbecause he was already going<br \/>\nright over the roof<br \/>\nof the goat shed, pumping<br \/>\nthat song. \u201cWhat about you<br \/>\nand me?\u201d And Paul<br \/>\njust got farther and smaller<br \/>\nuntil he looked like a kid<br \/>\nunfolding paper dolls over<br \/>\nand over, or like<br \/>\nhe was clapping slowly<br \/>\nat himself, and then<br \/>\nlike he was opening up the wings<br \/>\nof some wild, black bird<br \/>\nhe had made friends with<br \/>\njust before he disappeared<br \/>\ninto the sky above the clouds<br \/>\nall over Maine.<\/p>\n<p><em>-Wesley McNair<\/em><\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-4017\" data-postid=\"4017\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-4017 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was the same as always Paul opening the big, black lung of it with that worried look while the cats watched from under the stove, but when he closed his eyes and begun to sink down between the straps of his bib overalls, it was like he died. Except the accordion was still breathing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2341,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4018,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4017\/revisions\/4018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}