The Underworld

We're going to the opera tonight. I don't really wanna go but Janice wants to, she got a deal on these tickets, got them from a friend or something, so I figure we'll go. Do you think they'll have those little binoculars there, she asks me. I say how should I know. I tell her to call and ask but she won't do it, it's embarrassing, and I'm sure as hell not gonna call. She wants to know, she'll have to call. Janice says maybe she'll go out to the store and buy some and I say we've got binoculars around here somewhere. She wants the real small ones though. She wants to fit in. Can't say I blame her.

Only went to the opera one other time in my life. I was a kid, something like nine or something, with my parents. We were in the very back or close to it and we needed binoculars, too. (Did they give them to you there? No, I think we brought them from home, I dunno, it was a long time ago.) It was some Italian thing, I don't remember, there were English subtitles and I'm pretty sure most operas are Italian. That's the impression I get anyways.

The one we're seeing tonight is Greek. I mean it's a Greek story, probably not in Greek, but probably not in English either. It's about a man who travels to the underworld to get his wife back. I don't know much about it but I guess it's a famous story. Undying love, devotion, all the things that operas are about I imagine. Janice wants to go to dinner before and have dessert after, make a real night of it. We don't have much nights anymore so I figure she's entitled. I made a reservation at this seafood place she's been hinting at wanting to go to. I got a couple ideas for afterwards. I took a decent amount of cash out of the machine so when I pay I can plop down a set of bills, not just some plastic thing, and she can see. Not so she can see how much I'm spending exactly, not to make her feel bad or anything. She's my girl, it's my job. I just want her to see that I'm willing I guess, trying out more of the stuff she likes. That I can go out and show her a good time. I'm trying to anyways.

The underworld. Lord, I can't even think about what that must be like. To see your girl dying and whatnot, seeing her get pulled away from you, forced into some other reality. That's insanity, it's insane, and then you go off after her. He probably didn't even know if he was gonna make it back. But if she's gone, if the girl you love gets taken from you, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to get her back. You gotta work at it, you gotta embrace that underworld, show it who's boss. Otherwise, well, why'd you even talk to her in the first place?