ERNIE AND ERNESTINA: Searching

Book Two, Chapter 88: Rainy Day Sunday

It’s a rainy Sunday in mid-March, so cold the rain sometimes turns into snowy mush.

Joshua calls before noon. “Do you want to see Silver Linings Playlist? It’s a good day for a movie.”

“You’d think I’d jump at the chance of breaking the work routine, Joshua, but you know me.” He waits for me to continue. “I’m eating oats and reading a Doris Betts short story. Most writing is depressing. Ernie always wrote stories with happy endings . . . except for Missing Faces, and he planned to write a sequel to that one. Maybe Canyon and Rock would have found their way back to each other. Who knows? We won’t ever know.”

Finally I agree to the movie. Jennifer Lawrence, the lead actress, is from our city. This is the first film of hers I’ve watched. She looks like a porcelain doll to me. She moves and runs a little awkwardly, as if her body is new to her and she’s not quite comfortable with it — but maybe she’s moving as her character would.

Music is a big part of this movie. One song begins with a few licks of a guitar, and I know what’s coming. I look over at Joshua. In the light coming from the screen, I see his face: he’s dry-eyed. I touch his right arm, pat it a few times. He doesn’t respond. It’s Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash singing Girl from the North Country. Joshua played it at his daddy’s memorial service. It’s one of Ernie’s two favorite songs.

No need to conjure Ernie. Reminders of him are everywhere.