Eternal Vista

John Smistad

Evan lives a common life. Not exhilarating, nor excruciating. Few ups, few downs. No frills. And Evan is fine with this.

Mostly.

But sometimes Evan gets this feeling. That he can fly. To another world. And leave this one far behind. The feeling comes and goes. Anyway, he tells himself that´s crazy.

A flash of white.

Evan works at a restaurant baking pizzas in an oven. Everyone says Evan makes really good pizza. Some of the best they´ve every eaten. So Evan reckons he does. If he thinks about it at all.

A flash of blue.

Evan has a girlfriend. Her name is Helen. Nothing to write home about. Not that Evan writes home about anything anyway. Helen works selling children´s clothes in a department store. One day Helen hopes to be a manager. Helen loves Evan. She wants to marry him. Evan´s not sure if he wants to be married. To anyone.

A flash of green.

Evan likes to drive through the mountains north of town. By himself. He likes to stop at a lookout point and gaze from the cliff. The valley far below is filled with trees. There is a creek that runs through it. It´s all so beautiful. Evan loses track of time when he´s there. Sometimes he never wants to leave.

A flash of brown.

One day after Evan makes the last pizza of his shift he calls Helen. He leaves a voice mail. He makes it private. He wants only Helen to hear it. Who else will care?

A flash of red.

Evan gets in his car. He drives to his favorite spot. He stands looking out over the vast expanse. The view seems to stretch on forever. He wishes he was a tree in the forest.

Evan cries.
Then he smiles.

A flash of white.
A flash of blue.
A flash of green.
A flash of brown.
A flash of red.

Evan takes his place among the trees.