Carlos Typhoon

flash fiction

A RAMONES MIXTAPE

He loved to listen to the Ramones in October. Something about the weather. It was just starting to get cold. Summer was gone, and autumn was tightening its grip (he sometimes called it “fall” in conversation, but it was always “autumn” in his head). And with Halloween there waiting at the end of the month—there was just something perfect about it.

When the idea presented itself, he realized that he’d already been working it out for years. THE IDEA: a Ramones mixtape for the girl of his dreams. THE REALIZATION: within a minute, he already had 6 of the 10 songs picked out. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to miss anything and thus spent the better part of a day giving their entire body of work a chance.

What would she like? Did she like the Ramones as much as he did? —maybe…but probably not. She would know them—of course—but not that well. She probably had a comp (most likely Ramones Mania), but that was it. She would recognize them, but most of it would still be new to her.

He was excited as he listened to the 18 candidates he had compiled. He could see her sitting there at her computer with her headphones on—as he weeded the list down to 14. He could see her head rocking back and forth to the music—as he cut 14 down to 11. He imagined the smile on her lips as she reveled in this gift from him—as he struggled to get that 11 down to 10. And he imagined the look in her eyes the next time he saw her—as he threw that 11th back on the list.

A Ramones mixtape (in chronological order):

1. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

2. Let’s Dance

3. Oh, Oh, I Love Her So

4. I Just Want to Have Something to Do

5. I Want You Around

6. Danny Says

7. Baby, I Love You

8. She’s a Sensation

9. I Need Your Love

10. My-My Kind of a Girl

11. I Love You

And it wasn’t until he already had the blank CD in his hand that he remembered he didn’t actually have anyone to give it to. The girl of his dreams was just that. He put the CD down, took another shot of whiskey…and then pushed PLAY.