Danny by Cathrine Lodoen
12 seconds behind.
Danny is 12. 12 years old and 12 seconds behind.Behind the rest of us. Behind himself.Lagging 12 seconds behind his own life.When you hear a sound. A pin drop. A truck roar. Your ear and brain sense the impact pretty much simultaneously.
But Danny does not have this luxury.
Danny lags.
12 seconds.The sound loops from his ears and their drums and dives into the depths of his brain where they swim around in search of Danny’s auditory areas. Crossing from one hemisphere to the other. Up and down. Left and right.This is not the automatic impulse that zaps through your brain. But a 12 seconds swim through gray matter before BANG a dropped pin drops or a truck long gone roars.
Danny lags.
Imagine what it is like for Danny to watch TV. Characters fade from the screen and are replaced by smiling corn flakes by the time the show’s punch line is heard. A joke told before a child steps into the road and is killed by a Disney Special truck is heard and appreciated as the child lies there bleeding in the street.
Danny lags and this makes entertainment difficult.
Danny is - lets face it - not good at sports. He lags. He has yet to start a sprint before the others are clutching their bellies after having super hero-ed through the finish line. Danny stands there - ever fearful of jump starting. Danny waits for the GO and then is gone. Never having a chance at the finish. The end gone while he dreams of possibilities.
One might expect that in the future Danny will insult many a female love interest as she waits for his “I want you too” or his “I love you too”. Imagine the awkward silences that pass as she says “Honey, look at me, what did I just say?! Did you hear me?” With an innocent smile he might glance her way, for 12 whole seconds. Lagging. 12 seconds is way too late.
The hopelessness of a 12 second lag following “Oh yeah, just like that, there, NOW”.
But not to worry. There will be no smacks due to slow replies for Danny will never make it to the awkward silences. Danny will never catch up.
For as in the Disney Special …… as the fender taps his knee and his brain feels the pain, he is no where near hearing the mother’s desperate scream. His mother’s: “Danny watch out, DANNY …” and as she rushes to his side and says “Danny, Danny do you hear me?” Danny smiles and reaches for her hand and finally hears her. Just 12 seconds too late.
