A few weeks ago I mentioned that our October writing challenge was "An Out of the Ordinary Day." The potential and ideas are limitless with this one. Happy, sad, comical, serious? We could write about whatever we wanted.
In September, I was surprised at how like minded my brother and I were in tone and underlying meaning... not sure if we are quite so similar this time. You may laugh or you may cry. Either way, it was good fun to write.
Amy’s eyes popped open with a
start. It was the kind of awakening that occurred with the sub conscious
feeling of oversleeping. Grabbing her cell phone from the side table, she
rubbed her eyes and focused on the time, 7:25.
There
was a brief moment of deliberation between spending twenty minutes primping or
stopping by her favorite coffee shop on the way. She chuckled a little. Who was
she kidding? It was a no brainer. Coffee always took priority on a morning like
this.
Running
to her closet she grabbed a black pencil skirt, the first shirt her hand
touched, and a pair of pumps. Getting dressed while brushing her teeth was an
art she had mastered long ago. Pulling her hair up into a messy bun on top of
her head she was out the door by 7:33, simultaneously sleepy eyed and put
together.
Driving
on auto pilot, she went over her eight o’clock in her mind while slapping on a
little mascara. That helped, she looked alive at least. Red lipstick. That
would do the trick. Smearing it onto her lips in a quick and proficient way,
she glanced quickly in the mirror. Not too bad for having just rolled out bed.
Still, she was thankful her meetings only took her to lunchtime.
Ten
minutes later and she was pulling into Joe’s Coffee. No parking available.
Really? There was a no parking zone right in front on the side of the road. She
debated for a second. It would really only take her five minutes to grab her
coffee and go. Would she get in trouble between now and then? Parking quickly,
she glanced around self consciously before running into the shop.
She got
in line and peered around to see who was working this morning. Lovely. It was
the dragon lady. Amy had been going to this particular coffee shop and she
could swear that this woman didn’t know how to smile. Customer service was
obviously not her strong suit, and here she was, working in a coffee shop. Amy
was pretty sure that Loretta, that was the dragon’s name, hated the sight of
happy people. As a rule Amy was a happy person. They say smiles are contagious…
but so far nothing rubbed off on this barista.
“Good
morning!” Amy said as she reached the front of the line. Her salutation was
accompanied by her biggest, brightest smile.
Loretta
took a moment to bring her eyes up to Amy, as if she was determining whether
she could ignore the ten people in line, slip on her “I hate people” shirt,
grab a chocolate filled croissant, and take twenty in the back. A couple grunts
later and she brought her eyes up to meet Amy’s smile.
It was
a strange moment. Amy wasn’t even sure what exactly occurred. The dragon’s face
relaxed a little and she almost looked like she was pleased to see her
overwhelmingly happy customer.
Amy
felt a little encouraged, as if all of her months of silently reaching out to
this unhappy person was being rewarded. After ordering her drink, she decided
to take it a step further with some casual conversation, “Beautiful day isn’t
it?” she smiled brightly again and looked into Loretta’s eyes kindly.
A
transformation occurred on Loretta’s face. Her eyes brightened and her mouth
began to tilt upward. She nodded a little.
There,
spread across her two front teeth, was a great smear of bright red lipstick.
The End
I opened my eyes suddenly. I
wasn’t at home; I wasn’t even close to home. I looked around timidly, the sky
was black as night, yet, it was bright as day. I was standing in a field of
white roses a subtle tick, tick, tick noise coming from somewhere just out of the
corner of my eye. Orbs of light were in every direction, and when I say “orbs” I
mean orbs. There were no lamp posts, no bulbs, just floating balls of light. I
think this was about the time I got really confused.
Around that time, I saw the door.
I don’t know how I didn’t see it before, a giant door the size of a cathedral,
splintered and white as paper, the only thing here besides me in a field of
white roses; wait, no, red roses.
The tick, tick, tick, noise was
getting louder and louder. I looked around to see if I could find it, no
success. It wasn’t there, it didn’t exist, yet, it was chasing me. I could feel
it, pounding my brain, with the ever so subtle tick, tick, tick. I was scared
now, it couldn’t find me, if it found me I’d be gone, but gone where? Maybe
this is where; a field of white roses that aren’t white, and a door that is
just beyond my reach.
I was scared now, the ticking
noise was almost upon me, I couldn’t breathe, and all I could do is run towards
the door. It was further then I thought, I ran and ran, yet it only seemed to
get further away, and smaller, and smaller, but I couldn’t stop, I needed to
get away from the noise. I ran until I thought my lungs had burst and turned to
water, and thorns from the flowers cut me deep every time I took a stride. And
then, suddenly, I tripped, over what? I don’t know, maybe it never existed.
Flat on the ground, I look up to see the door almost touching my forehead, yet
this time it was different. It shrank so much while I was chasing it, Instead
of a cathedral; it was only as wide as a book, the knob was polished gold, the
door decorated to look like a clock.
I reached out in a desperate
attempt to escape the ticking noise and opened it, and then, I woke up.
I jerked up frantically, breathing
hard. I looked around, the ticking noise was still there, but it was just my
clock. I was in my apartment, not in a wasteland of roses, although, this was a
wasteland of its own; old, dusty, and small. I only had enough room for my bed,
a Television, and a mini fridge. “another dream” I whispered to myself. To get
my mind off of it, I decided to get ready for work.
I left the house a couple hours
early, it felt nice to get away from my old dusty room. I decided to walk to
work that day. The sun was shining, the air was cool, and there was a slight
breeze, perfect weather. I don’t know why the dream troubled me so much, but it
was finally starting to fade. I thanked the wonderful surroundings and all the
distractions. The colorful lights, smells and especially all the people waking
up and getting there start on the day; a man rushing to get his cup of coffee,
strutting into the store like it was his goal in life, A woman with a cigarette
in one hand and a cell phone in the other, rushing to her car like her life was
on the line, people just going along with their daily lives. The sidewalk
pavement thrummed like a living thing beneath my feet, with cars busily sailing
past me happily escorting their drivers to work. The hope of a smile flickered
on my face for an instant, and then it was gone.
I found myself at work suddenly,
as if I woke from a daze and the real world jumped on my back as quick as it
could. I sat there, looking at the papers on my desk, wondering, just
wondering. The ticking of the clock over everyone’s head stared me down like
prey.
Some days I’d never notice it. The
dull grinding of gears and the soft monotone melody of the second hand, but
these days it was always on my mind. My days were getting shorter, yet staying
the same; Time was passing me by.
Work felt structured and dismal, a
place where dreams rot next to the stapler, and home felt like the countdown. I
used to look forward to work; I’d hum a tune and sign papers like it was nobody
else’s business. Now it just felt like my life was draining slowly into my
savings account.
The wandering of my head stopped
suddenly. It was five-o-clock, time to go home.
I was in my bed suddenly, it was
late, I stared up at the clock, knowing that tomorrow was just going to be the
same. At least I could find solace in my quiet room, in my warm bed. I felt
comforted, slowly falling asleep. If only I knew what was waiting for me in my
dreams.
Money, so much money, falling like
rain, covering the ground for miles, it was beautiful. I smiled bright,
brimming with satisfaction. I did this, it was me, I finally succeeded. I
laughed, and skipped and played happily.
Sparks of light dazzled the air;
little red fireworks nearly blinding my vision. Smiling, I heard a faint noise,
but when I realized what it was, my smile faded. I turned slowly, and there it
was, my clock. Terrified I looked around for any way to escape. There was none;
the clock ticked more and more relentlessly, Till every subtle tick sent a
shockwave through my entire body. It knocked me down, I was barely breathing,
every pound of the clock knocking the air right out of me. My eyes squinted
open and I gasped. The sky was on fire, little pieces of money-paper erupting
into flames and soaring towards my face, surrounding me with fire. Every little
tick of the clock beat me down further and further into the ground, and the
fire threatened to engulf me. I closed my eyes in utter hopelessness, tears
streaming down my face, but then, I heard a voice. “Are you going to open your
door” she said, and I looked at her, smiling at me, holding out her hand, like
she’s just going to pick me up and carry me out of this hell storm. I reached
out and touched her.
My eyes locked open and I was back
in my room. My door bell rang and I nearly screamed. I rushed downstairs and
opened up the door before it had time to ring again. It was her, the girl from
my dreams. She was a delivery girl, holding out a large package. She had soft
blue eyes, a devious smile, and black hair in a tight messy bun.“So, are you
going to sign for this sir?” she said, trying not to laugh. That’s when I
realized how odd I must seem, A full grown man answering his door in his P-J’s,
and simply staring at the lady with a very confused look. Slowly I came to my
senses, though, and said “oh, yeah, sorry you just look very familiar.”
As you might suppose, I was
incredibly confused. Walking back into my house with my brand new Hoover
vacuum, I came up with a clever plan. I walked straight from my front door to
my computer and bought another vacuum.
Four weeks, and five vacuum’s
later. I had a date.
My eyes opened wide. My day off,
the day for my first date in years, and I didn’t have a single nightmare. . . I
looked in the mirror, wearing a white button up shirt and slacks. I tried to
smile, but it just looked rusty and forced, and although I didn’t have any
nightmares, my hair was certainly a nightmare.
Getting ready and cleaning around
my house like a madman, my heart pumping with anticipation all day. If I
sprayed any more air freshener in my house I would probably pass out, so I
resolved to spend the remainder of my day watching the clock, ticking
sadistically.
It was time, finally. I walked towards her door, a small apartment
on a lonely street; my hands tightening with every slow step, and adrenaline
pumping through my veins. It was the most alive I’ve felt in years. I knocked
on her door, every knock resounding quieter and shyer than the last. “Just a
minute!” she yelled through the door, as I heard scuffling around and nervous
rummaging, and then her eyes were looking directly at mine, bright and wild.
Her hair was still a mess, yet it was perfect, cascading so curiously down her
shoulders, shining in the night light. Wearing a little blue sundress, I felt
like a dirty old dog compared to her beauty.
I felt even worse giving her the small rose I had picked on the way to
her apartment; a pathetic thing, with the petals already wilting and thorns on
the stem, yet, when I clumsily said hello and handed her the flower, her smile
made my worries melt away.
We walked around the carnival,
dazzling lights and noises and games all around. I could see her eyes flit from
one thing to the next, joyfully enjoying every little detail. We played games,
and I won her a little plush elephant, she wrapped her arms around it happily
and smiled at me, which just made me try again and again to get her more. I
failed, but she was still just as happy with the one.
I found myself staring at her,
wondering how with just the littlest things, she could still have the purest,
most hopeful smile. She noticed that I was looking, and smiled that same very
smile at me; my face red, and adrenaline pumping through my heart, for once in
what felt like years, A real, genuine smile appeared on my lips. After that I
just couldn’t get rid of it.
After so long of being so terribly
mad at time, it finally decided to go easy on me, the night felt like it lasted
an eternity, and I could just feel myself falling in love every second of it.
Taking her home very late that night, I knew things were going to be different
from here on out.
The truth was, I was nearly on the
verge of giving up. In pursuit of my job my greed overcame me. I lost who I
was, I lost my friends, I lost my family, and after so long of trying, my wife
left me. I was alone with nothing but a well paying job.
After nearly a year with this new girl,
a few things changed. I quit my job, I moved to a different place, and got a
new mindset. I finally knew who I was again, I could finally smile again, and
it was all because of her.
The End
