Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A short story


The bird had white feathers and a red beak. She was tapping on the window and peaking inside. Maybe she was hungry…


The kid closed the book and sighed. She felt lonely, and somehow scared. But she didn’t dare to leave this room. At least this was her own room, and she knew every inch of it, even in the dark. Although she was never sure about under the bed, no matter how many times she checked it during the day. In the evenings, everything could be different. Specially now that nobody was home, except for her little brother, who was leaning on her and listening to the story she was reading to him, his cheeks still wet from his tears. She was the one who was supposed to take care of him. So despite all her fears, as soon as he started to cry, she tried not to think about her own fears, calmed him down, turned on a candle (Her parents told her it was dangerous to play with the match and the candle but what could she do? The power had gone off, and her brother was scared.) and offered to read him from the book that he liked the most, to distract him from the fact that he was hungry and he missed his parents…Now she was hungry too, and on top of them all, she was worried. What if they’ve had an accident? They used to be home usually by this hour. She looked at her brother. He was asleep still leaning on her, with a couple of tears on his cheeks…She thought to herself, “Maybe I’d better get back to the story, at least I won’t notice the dark that much.” Then, she heard a sound, the squeak of braking, and a car engine being turned off. She had a sigh of relief and awakened her brother: “Hey lazy, wake up, they are here!”…


The audio book stopped. “What went wrong?” The girl thought to herself, “I just changed the batteries this morning! Oh damn! I want to know what happens next. Now I have to wait until we arrive, which is still 3 hours away.” She saw the flight attendant approaching them with a smile. Her growling stomach confirmed “OK! About time!” Then she turned around to wake up her husband who was sitting beside her, “Now where is he?!” She turned back and checked the end of the plane. The washroom light was off. She looked at the front, no sign of anybody standing. “Where is he?!!” She thought half worried, half angry “I hope this is not just my hallucination and I won’t wake up to my miserable life before this.” It had happened so many times in the old days. She used to dream about a calm, happy, independent, efficient, adventurous life with whom she loved, and she used to wake up to a world of bad choices and terrible consequences. Now she had started to panic, scared to make the slightest move “I don’t want to wake up again.” But she looked more carefully, she could swear that the flight attendant, the pleasant smell of food, her motion sickness and hunger, and the CD player with the audio book in her hands were real.
“Hey, go back to your own seat, will you? I was having a bad headache and I went to get a cup of tea. Good thing the food is here too. What do you want this time? Oh boy! You look so pale, did you take your pill? Please tell me you don’t want to throw up on me, please, please!!!” She started to laugh as her husband fastened up his seatbelt while speaking. “Thank god it was not a dream.” She thought to herself. The flight attendant with the smile was now at their row, "Chicken or fish, ma'am?"...


The old lady looked at her watch and changed the channel. She could watch the encore of “Read and write stories” on Thursday again. On the other hand, the kids would be here any minute, and then she had to change the channel, no other choices! They were coming to watch the soccer match all together, with god knows how many of their friends. She took a look outside the window where her husband was running in the neighborhood, still in good shape even in his seventies. She waved at him, who waved back, made a silly face and passed their driveway. She smiled and closed the window; it was getting a little colder and windy. She checked the table “OK! Enough sunflower seeds, pop-corns, and chips and salsa.” Then she remembered “…and my dessert is in the fridge, I hope they like this new recipe.” She went to the kitchen, turned down the kettle which was happily whistling and boiling, and put a bunch of fresh mint leaves in a dozen glasses. “Healthier choices for our own friends, and whoever gets stomachache with all that junk food out there!” She giggled to herself. She went back to the living room and checked herself in the mirror, “Maybe some fresh lip-gloss”…and then, she heard a soft sound of tapping. She looked back at the window, there was a bird sitting outside.
The bird had white feathers and a red beak. She was tapping on the window and peaking inside. Maybe she was hungry…

Monday, June 9, 2008

Days of our lives...


"Well, It’s hot and humid, not such a good weather, but it’s still better than sitting inside. At least I can watch people from here. You know, it’s always been an interesting hobby for me watching people and thinking about them and trying to guess what they are thinking about. Let’s see…hey! Look at that cute little girl enjoying her ice cream and talking constantly with her mother! I bet she is so happy. The mother looks nice, although a bit tired. Maybe she is thinking about her job and how she hates it but she still has to continue to pay of her bills and to make a better living for her daughter.
Or look at that pair, no, no, those ones, on the other side of the street. They are so into each other. I bet they are still friends, not spouses. Why?! Well it’s obvious, look at these other ones, yeah, yeah, the ones that you were looking at first, passing below our window. They are married, or at least living together for a while now. They are walking in sync with each other, sometimes touching each other’s hands, but not talking! They don’s need to show their affection in public any more!
There comes a teenager, head in the clouds, I bet he is day dreaming…but you know what? They are not necessarily impolite. One of them actually got up the other day in the metro and offered me his seat. Sweet boy! Although Mrs Pelletier believes that they all need a good punishment for talking loud and laughing and not caring about others, I think she is just being selfish. She has forgotten her old days…I still remember my days, when I was young, a teenager, how I was free and always a bit confused. I had eternity in front of me, and not knowing what to do with it! And girl, how I hated my face and my figure! It seemed so out of shape and out of ratio…I used to think that I had the longest chin in the whole family! Hahaha!

Oh, that’s the phone ringing, sorry, just a minute!

Hello?...Oh hi honey! How are you doing?...I’m doing fine….Where are you?...Oh yeah?...That’s great….So what are you doing calling me? Go have fun…Oh, that’s so sweet of you remembering me…I know, I know….Sure, sure, you know I never get bored….Yes, I’m still reading “the kite runner”…. And guess what, I have found this new movie club a couple blocks away. They have so many cool movies!...What?...Of course I go out, this evening. I’ll have my dinner with my friends…No, you don’t know them yet. I found them in my Tai chi club…Yeah, yeah!...So how’s the weather?...Good, good. How’s Fred?...And the kids?...Kiss them for me, OK?...You take care honey…. Have fun and recharge your batteries before going back to work…Thanks for calling… Me too…OK, OK!...You too, bye!...Bye.

My sweet girl. I miss her…I’m glad she is having fun.

Oh! You know I forgot to tell you that Teddy sent me an e.mail this morning? He said that he is happy with his new job and recently met a girl! Hee hee! No no no, I didn’t ask him anything. If it goes well, he’ll let me know. I’m sure.
Whew! It’s so warm. It makes me thirsty. Would you like some water? Are you thirsty too? Here, some nice cold water for you, and some fresh lemonade for myself…mmm! So good…"

...


"GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"

I jumped from the sofa with Mr. Alchemist’s joyful screams due to a goal for his favorite soccer team. I reached for the window and closed it, not to bother our neighbor lady who was sitting in the balcony, sipping a lemonade and talking to her flower, as her usual habit of Saturday mornings…