Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

First story:

The time is nearly 11:15.

A beautiful woman sits on a park bench holding a small umbrella above her head shielding her beautiful face from the scorching sun.

This moment seems frozen.  Time stops.  She envisions herself dancing in the park, twirling above the fallen autumn leaves underneath her feet.
Music is playing on a machine; a record player and a dancing, beautiful woman in a flowing pink skirt.
Twirling, twisting things.

A man rolls up to the woman on his peddle bike.  Everything in this little spot on Earth seems to have stopped.  Thin rubber tires that reside on metal rings and spokes screech to a stop.  How can such a machine hold a person up?
He hops off the contraption, gently laying it on its side.
The two are now sitting on the park bench together.  He reaches a courteous hand to the woman.
They sit together hand in hand on a park bench on a little spot on Earth where time has stopped.

Second story:

This girl is on a journey of discovery.  She is full of dreams and wishes.  Behind her is a boastful Mother who looks down on this dreamy world.  “Snap back into reality, daughter!”

This girl is trapped in an unimaginative world where her mind is the only place worth visiting.

She hops in her old hand-me-down BMW and cruises to a nearby lake where her fantasies can be explored.

She lays under the shade of a tree with a pen and notepad.

Ideas float on the page like notes on a music sheet.