Please Do Not Feed the Waterfowl
Eight of them silhouetted against the paddlewheel steamboat...four boys, four girls.
They slouch there, ill-at-ease in their unaccustomed Prom finery.
The I-74 Bridge looms behind them in the distance.
One girl, chilled by the spring breeze, wears her date's jacket slung casually around her shoulders. She stares at the ground. Is she thinking about the night ahead? Is she thinking about the future, as she shivers, clutching her evening bag?
"Are we grown? Are we ready?"
The blond athletic-looking boy in the white Saturday Night Fever suit and white shoes wears a turquoise tie and matching handkerchief. He coordinates with his date's turquoise strapless formal.
Will they always be this in tune with each other, this harmonious? Are they a couple only for now, only for tonight, only at this moment in time?
He squints, staring at the camera.
"Are we grown? Are we ready? Are we having fun yet?"
What lies across that bridge....across the Mississippi River...across time?
What does the future hold when Prom night ends?
"Are we grown? Are we ready?"
In youth, the future stretches out forever, spins on like an endless ribbon, an eternity of time, an infinite river of days and nights and dances and dates. But this is Prom night, and the end of high school is near.
"Are we grown? Are we ready?"
The sign reads: "Please do not feed the waterfowl."
If only there were other signs. Signs to instruct. Signs to warn about the future...
For now, it is just: "Please do not feed the waterfowl."
Connie Wilson has written for many newspapers, including the Quad City Times and the Moline Dispatch, and has taught at many QC area colleges and universities. She has won several awards for her writing including 2008 Content Producer of the Year in January 2009 for her contributions to Associated Content. Her latest book, Ghostly Tales of Route 66, Volume II (Quixote Press) will be released September 24. She will be appearing at Barnes & Noble in Northpark Mall, Davenport, IA Oct. 17 or Oct. 24 (details forthcoming). You can visit her on the web here or here.
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