Day 147 - Languages Story

Languages Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

Arnie and Susie could speak to each other using a form of sign language they had invented. Arnie hated small talk and thought most public conversation was a drag. And Susie? Susie just really loved a good challenge. Susie studied language theory and a variety of gesture concepts and came up with some simple motions they could both remember. They practiced and practiced and the language grew. They both had dexterous fingers. They were capable learners. They knew nothing of grammar or proper sentence structure, but after a few motions with their hands they understood each other better than if they had just had a twenty minute conversation. Of course, they understood each other pretty well with a glance or a nod too.

 Arnie loved games of chance but for the most part he wasn’t that good at them and even when he was okay, he still wasn’t lucky at all. Susie didn’t care about winning, but she was very in love with that challenge. Susie took several concepts from Morse code and made a way for them to communicate while playing at the table. There were taps and ways to fidget to indicate every card in the deck. Each finger played a different part and could signal something different. It wasn’t a guaranteed way to win, but it was a way to help the other out. At least they never outbid each other. They once tried a different system for blackjack, but that didn’t work very well. Neither one of them knew a thing about probability nor about counting cards.

Arnie found that he was speaking less and less. He never used the phone anymore and hardly said a word at gatherings or parties. Susie had the opposite happen to her. She spoke more and more and was becoming a social butterfly. But she only used the languages that she created. She invented more and more signs and more and more methods of communications using gestures and motions. She taught her friends. Some languages were for the group, some were more private. She could go to a party and have twelve different conversations with different people and never say a word.

Arnie drank. Susie floated around the room and had a million conversations, and Arnie sat in the corner and drank. He wasn’t resentful or bitter. He never really cared for conversation and he knew it. A few hand gestures here and there weren’t going to change that. No one ever had interesting things to say. They were shallow and self-absorbed and egocentric. Arnie didn’t need to talk to them to figure that out. He just knew that was the standard operating procedure for most people.

Susie needed other people and appreciated a broader world view. She felt better including more and more people and enjoyed the benefits of a larger and expanding existence. The languages were a part of that. They were fun. Fun for her anyway.

Arnie was tired. He liked it better when he had something special with her and her alone. He liked the intimacy and the connection. He liked her. Somewhere along the way, they had lost what made them special. She didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t notice that Arnie communicated less and less. Maybe she was too busy. Maybe she just didn’t realize there was anything wrong. Arnie never spoke much anyway, even before the sign languages took over. She just didn’t notice that his ‘almost never’ had turned into ‘never.’

One night during a party, Arnie stood up without making a sound or a signal and walked to the door. He turned back and looked across the room at Susie. They just looked at each other, without saying a word. She used to understand him so well. They used to speak without speaking. Now they just stared, without sympathy or compassion and very little concern. Arnie didn’t make a sound. He didn’t say a word, or leave a note or make a signal or a gesture. He just opened the door, stepped outside and was free.