every attempt to evade discovery, Tim reveals a little something about himself. He ( for got ) once believed that by possessing a name by someone well known, their fame would divert all the attention.


Motion was detected on his front steps.

Through a peephole surrogate, the security camera granted Tim remote access. He watched as the live feed presented his visitor, an envelope clutched between her grainy fingertips.

Sam’s introduction and the darkness that seeps along her edges are faint. Despite the camera’s obvious presence, the recording is a vague rendering of the space. If any action slips past the frame, the camera lacks the ability to adjust its perspective. It cannot see what matters to the viewer. It cannot engage.

without

trying to explain himself, Tim sits in an office cubicle. The security guard, fitted in leather boots and topped with a ten gallon hat, informs Tim that harassing the park’s Ghost Town performers is not tolerated. He will be removed and banned from reentry.

Memories shared with his ex cloud his judgement. Wisps of cigarette for ( got ) smoke dissipate from a trembling breath; her raspy insults dampened with each drag.


a question she often repeats, and he, too stubborn to let her in, says nothing.

After a series of broken relationships, he reignites her frustration. Three separate letters were sent out with no expectation of a reply. Hers - handwritten, arrived ( for ) got as an apology. Polite and restrained, there was no mention of what he really wanted to say.

with

enough pressure, Tim could be persuaded to speak. Though the actual words mouthed, will not be his alone. Someone had ( man age ) to take his place—lending a voice to the silence.

It was a presence shaped out of absence, as Tim’s visibility depended solely on another’s approval.

without

him, the production would continue. On-location, Tim steadies the camcorder. Kris, a short director, in height and temperament, insists on removing all distractions outside of the elevator doors. This includes Tim. She underscores man ( age ) the threat, by setting up a readied tripod in his place.

The two female actors, Sam and Alex, maintain the illusion that the elevator doors are closed. They sit inside, on its polished floor, with a laundry basket dividing them. Kris’ body stands wedged between the
( man ) age and the invisible closure. Before walking away, Tim begins to question the validity of this
vanity project.

with

a name so familiar, this Tim McGraw is by no means a present figure. He has already ( off end ) become something removed from me and every day I am with him, that distance seems to grow.