Interesting concept: the output of the creative mind can get misinterpreted, misspelled and change in meaning
In yet another going-over of A Bottle of Beer, this sentence was questioned:
As Yolanda dozed, half in the world of the sun and the living, half in the world of the missed and the dead, the black spot of life on the highway advanced and grew into a man. (Inch by Inch)
The comparison–if one is indeed needed–of the two halves do not match. That is, sun and the living versus missed and the dead.
There’s no rule that says the two have to be accurate opposites, and yet it seems to be expected here. The phrase itself came out without question or doubt, but it has stopped me in a few readings, however unsuccessfully. When Jim brought it up once again, I decided to do something about it. But what?
The first thought: sun and the living/dark and the dead. Clear, simple, obvious. Too obvious, I suspect. What then was I thinking? There are some connections that can be made here: The ‘missed’ being the entire evening’s focus of Yolanda’s attention, as well as being ‘dead.’ Or, I could have been using a subtle word for dark via ‘mist’ rather than ‘missed’ — sun and the living/mist and the dead. Here too I wonder if I was aware of the homonym.
So I’m not sure what change will be made. Gotta think on it a while. It’s only one word and shouldn’t matter…but it does.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology