It’s part 15 of a serialized short story about a drunk writer named Steve. This episode features more from the anonymous narrator alone in the wild and Steve’s reflection on the word “echo.”
Steve (pt. 15) – More from the Lonely Wild and a Contemplation on Technology as a Mangled Echo
The Initial Arrival into the Wild
When you first arrive in the wilderness, your thoughts of home strike you deep in the heart. I remember when the train pulled into the station. I couldn’t keep my eyes off those mountains. They were beautiful. Stunning.
And yet still – I felt so much emptiness in my heart. In my bones, I longed to be with my family again, but I also wished for them to be here, to witness the majesty of the quiet towering mountaintops in the distance, calling out for me.
To be alone was one of the main reasons I fled here in the first place, so I knew my family couldn’t join me. It tore me up inside as I deliberated my exit.
Out here in the wild, I could hardly breathe. My lungs were still adjusting to cold dry air. One’s initial arrival into the wild entails simply waiting for the wilderness to swallow you…
But a Mangled Echo
Words have a way of toying with my brain. Even the word “brain” can send me lost in lonely thought for hours, unconcerned with my surroundings. If I don’t get stuck thinking about words, then a song typically gets stuck in my head… and whether the lyrics are good or bad, I’m back to thinking about words again…
Words are like meth to my mind… except they don’t get me high. They leave me trapped in this life, in this city, smoking a cigarette in front of a typewriter. And people tell me, “Dude. Get a computer already.”
But nah – words don’t look the same on a computer. The words don’t feel the same when they’ve been churned out by a printer as opposed to direct impression. But typewriters appear to be going the way of the cassette… Technology is bullshit.
The word “technology” even looks like a soulless machine. It looks like the word “echo” took steroids and vomited all over itself. And if technology is but a mangled echo… well, maybe my dad knew what he was doing when he ran off to the wild…
to be continued…
© USA 2009, 2026
This was the 15th part of a cross-genre short story composed in 2009 at the College of Santa Fe.
Steve's Serialized Short Story - Episode 15: A Mangled Echo