​December 2022

Toby Ingram and his girlfriend, Alyssa Riley, were hanging out at Toby’s Lincoln Park apartment. They were watching some cartoons until Alyssa noticed that Toby fell asleep. She decided to put her ear against his chest. Toby woke up and pulled his shirt up to expose his ribs and his belly button. He took a very deep breath.

“Are you listening to my heart?” Toby sleepily asked his girlfriend.
“Mhm,” Alyssa replied.
“Is it fast?”
“Yes. It’s also really steady.”
“I fell asleep. Not sure how that happened,” Toby remarked.
“Just relax and go back to sleep,” Alyssa said.
“This is relaxing.”
“I’m just relaxed listening to all that love flowing through your heart.”
“Mhm.”
“I also love how deep your heart sounds. It’s too precious.

Spring 2024

“So I decided to do a little bit of meditation today,” Toby Ingram said over the phone to his brother, David Ingram.
“And how did that go?” David asked.
“It was really weird.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“I lay in bed all morning because I had nothing else going on. I was lying on my stomach, and I decided to meditate by feeling my heartbeat. My hands were pressed so hard against my chest, that I think I could actually feel my blood flowing through my heart,” Toby replied.
“That’s definitely a different one,” David remarked.
“Yeah. It was definitely weird because I’m pretty sure I could feel inside my heart.”
“I’ve done that type of meditation before by feeling my heartbeat, but I don’t remember having that happen to me. I used to mediate all the time, especially right after I called off the wedding with Olivia. It helped a lot.”
“There was no real reason for me to meditate, other than just clearing my head. Work was really hectic last week, and I am glad to not have any real plans this weekend.”
“I have no plans for today as well, and it is glorious.”

​Fall 2018

“Good morning, dufus,” Sav Taffert said to his best friend, Toby Ingram. They spent the weekend at a hotel in Evansville, Indiana. They and a couple other friends from high school were here to visit another high school friend in college.
“Morning, a**hole,” Toby replied.
“Where are your pants?” 
“I got hot, so I slept in my hoodie and undies.”
“Really, Toby? Really?” Sav replied.
“Did you hear anything?” Toby asked.
“Yes, I heard you say, ‘Oh god, take me to the moon and back. And bring me a sandwich.’”
“Oh shit, you heard everything. That’s all I remember on my end.”
“Yeah, I know what you were doing. I just tried not to laugh too hard.”
“Well, you know what? You were farting a lot in your sleep.”
“Your hoodie’s on backwards, too,” Sav said.
“Oh, is it?” Toby remarked.
“You must have slept super well after everything. Did you get that sandwich that you were asking for?”
“I remember nothing else.”

Summer 2018

”I went on a run today,” David Ingram said to his younger brother, Toby, over the phone.
“Oh nice! How did it go?” Toby asked.
“This was the first time in about a year and a half that I went on a run. I’m pretty exhausted, but I also feel amazing.”
“How far did you go?”
“I ran five miles,” David replied.
“There you go!” Toby remarked.
“It was a really hard run, but I needed to push myself. After the wedding with Olivia got called off, I think it’s time to get back into some sort of routine.”
“At least you did it. I didn’t go on one today. I think I’ll go tomorrow. Where’s Brody, by the way?”
“He’s in LA for a work conference. I told him to get Korean food while he’s there.”
“Nice!”

​Spring 2016

“Weird day today,” Toby Ingram remarked to his older brother, David. He was at David and Brody’s apartment, so not too far away from their parents’ house in Crown Point, Indiana.
“Why? What happened?” David asked.
“Well, Natasha and I broke up. Over something super trivial.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“So, I woke up to her head on my chest. She spent the night at our house. I had woken up in a weird mood anyway, and I really was not feeling up to doing much that involved people. I actually was hoping to go on a run this morning, but she wanted me to take her to the mall,” Toby said.
“Oh lord,” David remarked.
“It gets better. She basically said that if I loved her, I’d go to the mall with her. I was not feeling it at all. So, while she was looking at clothes, I stayed in the car and took a little cat nap. She called me from inside the mall and asked where the hell I was. And I told her, that I had said I wasn’t feeling up to going inside. So she kept trying to get me to go inside the mall, and I basically told her to get her own damn ride home, since I decided to leave. I got a quick bite to eat, and a coffee, and I decided to go home. Not even 30 minutes after I got home, she sent me a text telling me that we should just be friends since we are so different. I just laughed.”
“You were kinda over her anyway, right?”
“For a few months. At first, we got on quite well. But after we both started college, she became a different person.”
“Sounds like it.”

Fall 2011

It was Saturday afternoon, and Toby Ingram and his girlfriend, Natasha Hilliard-Iverson, were at Toby’s house watching goofy cartoons. After an hour or so of watching TV, Toby got a little too into the moment, took Natasha’s hand, and pressed it firmly against his chest.

“Do you feel that?” Toby asked his girlfriend.
“It’s so fast. I think you’re excited to see me,” Natasha replied.
“Mhm.”
“That is so hot.”
“I think you’re so hot,” Toby remarked, drawing a deep breath.
“I think you’re so hot and adorably awkward,” Natasha said.
“I try.”
“I think I just felt your heart skip a beat.”
“Did it?”
“Even your heartbeat is adorably awkward.”

​Fall 2014

“How are you feeling now, Toby?” Brody Ingram asked his younger brother, who was still in high school. Brody came home from college for the weekend.
“I feel like complete garbage,” Toby replied.
“Did you miss school all day yesterday?”
“I was there for a half day. I felt a little run down in the morning. But later in the day, I started feeling really bad.”
“Man, that sucks,” Brody replied,
“The nurse told me I shouldn’t be at school, so she sent me home,” Toby replied.
“That was me last week, which is why I wasn’t worried about coming here this weekend. I pretty much slept all last weekend.”
“I drove back to the house, and it felt like the longest drive ever. Almost immediately when I came home, I fell asleep.”
“Did the cats keep you company?”
”Oh, most definitely. Came home around 10 am, and I slept until about 5 pm or so. I thought I slept until 5 am the next day.”

​Fall 2019

“Toby, where the hell did you get that picture?” Sav Taffert asked his best friend, Toby Ingram, when he walked into their Lincoln Park apartment in Chicago.
“I happened upon it at a garage sale, and I liked it, so I got it. I think it would look so good above the TV,” Toby replied.
“What the hell is it anyway?”
“It’s a watercolor artwork of a horse.”
“Since when did you like horses?” Sav asked.
“I honestly have no idea why I like it so much,” Toby said.
“How much was it?”
“You really want to know?”
“I’m curious.”
“Four dollars.”
“Get out of town! Yes, let’s hang up that thing above the TV.”

​Spring 2024

“So I decided to do a little bit of meditation today,” Toby Ingram said over the phone to his brother, David Ingram.
“And how did that go?” David asked.
“It was really weird.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“I lay in bed all morning because I had nothing else going on. I was lying on my stomach, and I decided to meditate by feeling my heartbeat. My hands were pressed so hard against my chest, that I think I could actually feel my blood flowing through my heart,” Toby replied.
“That’s definitely a different one,” David remarked.
“Yeah. It was definitely weird because I’m pretty sure I could feel inside my heart.”
“I’ve done that type of meditation before by feeling my heartbeat, but I don’t remember having that happen to me. I used to mediate all the time, especially right after I called off the wedding with Olivia. It helped a lot.”
“There was no real reason for me to meditate, other than just clearing my head. Work was really hectic last week, and I am glad to not have any real plans this weekend.”
“I have no plans for today as well, and it is glorious.”