Monday, October 27, 2008

"I am beautiful in every single way, words can't bring me down. So don't you bring me down today." Christina Aguilera's voice fills the room, allowing a few minutes of escapism from reality, the song Beautiful reminds me of who I used to be. Aguilera is performing at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards and she is nominated for three Grammys. For the three and a half minutes of her song I am enthralled by her high hitting notes and the ten or so back up performers. The audience's claps rain out her voice as the song finishes and the camera angle zooms out to the presenter of the next award. I picking up the remote I flick the off button and the television turns off.
Looking around me there are other people, women in fact, some staring past the curtain covered window to the concrete buildings outside, some looking blankly at the dull pink carpet and others reading trashy magazines and romance novels. I used to be one of those girls who followed every move of the dancers on television, placing scrutiny on their legs, arms and bottoms, wanting to be like them, dying to look like them. That was before I discovered males and the power that I could have over them with certain parts of my body, and that was how I got myself into this situation.
I am not in this room because I want to be, nor because of my choice. A lady appears at the doorway, beckoning me to come with her. We walk into a room with two seats, a desk and an empty bookshelf. She tells me to have a seat and starts flicking through my file, briefly reading some of the comments that others have written about me.
"So Simone, I see from your file you didn't convince us enough that you wanted the termination last week and you are back again. You are defiantly sure that you want it then?" She asks me in a half mocking half understanding way.
I nod my head, not looking at her but picking the dirt out of my clean nails. Nothing is coming out, it is just pressuring my nail to go white, which is always fun to do. She asks me about my allergies and I respond with popcorn and capsicum.
"Popcorn and Capsicum?!? Well we sure won't be giving you either of those here," She exclaims, probably thinking that I was joking, but I'm not.I am handed a pen and told to sign on the dotted line, I feel as if I am signing my life away. I've dotted the I's and looped the Y's and the blood drains out of my face. Who am I kidding? I want to keep this child! Can't they see it in my eyes that it is my parents forcing me into this? I wish that she knew what I knew, that I want this five month old child that is currently in my womb. I don't care that my parents have paid three and a half thousand dollars to get me her in the first place. My brain stops thinking when the lady gives me a pair of pyjamas with frogs on them and shows me to a room that I can change in.
Peeling off my loose fitting t-shirt and jeans I place the frogs over my head. It is a massive dressing gown with buttons at the back instead of the front. I slump down in the chair waiting for the lady to come get me to sit in another waiting room, for another amount of undisclosed minutes. A nice warm feeling of dread fills me as I hear footsteps approaching. Good hearing is a curse at times, for example when you walk in the door and hear moaning coming from the bedroom that you and your boyfriend share, or times like now when you do not want to hear or see the inevitable. A tap on the door signifies that it is her, wanting to know if she can come in and if I am appropriately dressed. I am told that I have the head nurse to see before anything else happens. This one is wearing all blue. She stands up and shakes my hand, a small smile of understanding is upon her face.
"Hello Simone, I am Margurite, I am the nurse that will be operating on you today, if all goes to plans. Do you know the procedure?"
"I know the procedure for 6-14 weeks, but not for twenty," I mumble.
"Okay, well this is what is going to happen. It is going to take two days, today we are going to stick organic dilation rods on your cervix to open it up. And tomorrow we are going to induce the labour. You are going to need to not eat..."
Her voice drones on, but I am not listening, the words induce labour, induce labour, induce labour repeat themselves over and over in my head. I nod occasionally to confirm that I am listening, but I'm not really. The question that I'm avoiding, she asks again, is this what you want? In my head there are two things going on, one part of me has bells going off, warning bells shouting NO NO NO NO! On the other side, my parent's voices tell me yes, this is what you want, you have gotten yourself into this mess and we are getting you out of it. I nod my head. The nurse takes it as a yes, that this is what I want. But I was only agreeing with my first thought. The bells are going off louder and louder until I cannot hear anything else. I cannot protest, I am too weak to correct her. I am sick of the fighting, sick of the morning vomiting, sick of my boyfriend who ran away from home when my mom told his dad about me. I am fifteen. He is twenty one. This is illegal. This child would be born out of wedlock. I would have rather made this decision myself then be forced into it.
In another room there are other women. None of them happy, all sullen faces, one lady rolls her feet as if she is a ballet dancer. I want to ask her if she is. White washed walls. Cheap paintings of pink flamingos, corny sunsets and rivers that flowing to nowhere in particular. If someone looked happy I'm not sure how everyone else in here would react. Maybe with disgust, maybe with evil looks or possibly with raised eyebrows, I am not sure how I would personally act, probably with discontent.
"Simone."
I stand, looking around, just in case there is another person named Simone in here. No one else stands, but they all look at me, maybe wondering what a fifteen year old is doing in an abortion clinic, honestly the answer is, I don't know.The smell of antibacterial soap and pristine hospital cleanliness fills my nostrils as I walk closer to the voice that called me. I see the nurse that interviewed me second, she calls me over to the bed and I sit down.
"Now Simone, I want you to lie down straight on the bed, feet out straight, head looking up towards the ceiling. Then we are going to put an oxygen mask over your nose and give you an injection on anaesthetic to make you drowsy. When we have done this, please back from ten.
"Ok?"I nod my head and do as I am told. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6.

*

Opening my eyes, a pale blue wall is opposite me, in front of that is a horrible plush sofa, much like the one that I am seated on. Between me and the other sofa is a table with little packets of products. Opening my eyes and on closer inspection they are biscuits and Jatz crackers, obviously there to boost my sugar and salt levels. I begin to feel drowsy again and close my eyes for just a second.
I wake to a moving motion engulfing me, snapping my eyelids open, dad is lifting me up the stairs, which would be no easy feat, seeming as I am 100kgs of pregnant teenager and am asleep. I tell him to let me walk up the stairs, that I can do it. He still holds onto me, more to support me than to be in control. For this I am somewhat glad. Also I am happy that it is my dad here not my mom. Sometimes she irritates me by trying to care too much and not actually letting me make the mistakes by myself. I guess this is an instant where she could not protect me from the outside world.
The hotel room is small, two single beds and a view of the local central building district, yay, I think to myself. Panadiene Forte every four hours and no eating ten hours before arriving back at the clinic, sleeping tablets to make me feel put me to sleep and kill the nightmares that I may have.

*

Fifteen hours later I am ushered onto the operating table, no interviews, no questioning. Before they can put the oxygen mask on, I begin to cry. I do not like showing that I am raw, I hate showing that I am not strong and unable to cry, but I do. I do not want to go through with this. I beg them to stop, but no one listens. "Simone, you are halfway through the procedure, there is no way that we can stop now! Stop crying and calm down. You are going to go into labour at any moment." I hear one of the nurses say.
Hearing this, I immediately clam down, the words, going into labour, really ticked something off in my brain to calm down. I lie down and the mask is placed over my mouth and the count down begins again.

*

I awake with a wheat bag on my stomach and the smell of disinfectant filling my nose once again. A nurse tells me that I will be lying here for another few hours as I do not go into labour until three o'clock. That nurse was a liar. I feel let down. I thought that it was all over. She comes back and tells me to roll over. After a curious look I ask her why. She smiles at me and tells me that the anaesthetic has to be inserted anally. I beg her not to, but there is no other option. Trying not to scream, she gives it to me and walks off. Every minute closer to three o'clock gives me more pain than the minute beforehand. According to the nurse, they are contractions, and that my body is preparing to go into labour.Five to three and I cannot stand the pain anymore, the pain is indescribable. The nurse notices this and notifies one of the head nurses. I am wheeled into the operating table, my legs propped up onto objects that look like crutches and the aesthetic is placed over my nose again.
"I am beautiful no matter what they say, words can't bring me down, I am beautiful in every single way, yes, words can't bring me down today"

Monday, September 8, 2008

Night Life (+18 please)

Beer in my hand, wallet in the other my eyes focused as if on prey, she looks like something out of a prostitute house. She is with this group of girls, facing and talking about one of the gay shirtless bartenders that I have employed. Her beauty somewhat astounds and amuses me, the way that her hips sway as she walks mesmerises me, but the size of her fake tits bouncing to the music amuses me. They most likely should be pert and firm, but they bounce all over the place. I just want to go over and grab one, holding it so tightly that the implant bursts. Her screams of pain, the look of horror on her face and the shocked looks of her friends, the music stopping and the whole club turning to look at me and the bloody flesh grasped in my hands.

Skolling the rest of my drink, placing the glass on the nearest table, wallet slipped into my back pocket I wander over to the group of girls. Placing my hands on her and one of the others, she jumps the other just looks at me in a drug infused haze. She opens her mouth to speak; I place my finger on her lips and tell her to shush. I introduce myself, welcoming them to my club and ask them if they want to join me in my private room upstairs. Stares of alarm, shock and gratification are sent around the group. One of the others begins to say no but she interjects saying that we’d love to, asking me to lead the way.

Hand still locked around her waist, I swivel her around towards an unmarked door, the girl that was uneasy yells that she is not going to come and will find her own way home. Fake tits lunges for her arm and tells her not to be stupid, free drinks girl, she looks reluctantly in my direction but comes up eventually.

This guy is trouble, I know it, and I think to myself, that self satisfied look on his face when Alicia hauled me towards them and the way that he is grabbing at her. I told her not to wear that top, too much goddamn cleavage, but don’t listen to me; I couldn’t be right at all, never.
Walking up these stairs in a mission in itself, Fake Tits is holding onto that girl’s hand and I’m gripping onto her waist still, I’m tempted to kick the other girl over just to see her fall down the two flights of stairs and have her head hit the concrete, splattering brains everywhere. Tasty. The stairs open up to my relaxing room. With my private bartender, red leather couches and some treats aligned on the table. Cocaine, Marijuana, Ecstasy, M&Ms and a few rohypnol tablets, these are my drugs of choice.

Leading them towards the couches I hold Fake Tit’s hand tightly, she looks at me with something that I can analyse as something between longing and lust. Can’t distinguish between the two, but both are good, boosting my self esteem, knowing that she wants me. Sitting down, I call the bartender over and tell him to bring a round of champagne out for the lovely ladies. My bouncer closes the door down the stairs and sits himself down, watching the entertainment with an amused face. The girls look around in probably in wonder of how nice this place is. I designed it myself, black tiling on the floor, a large window overlooking the rest of Surfers Paradise. Fake tits talks to the blonde, she’s not bad, bit of a face, would have to paper bag her. Or quite possible jut cut her head off, I can imagine the brown haired girl’s reaction – she helped herself to the Ecstasy and is tripping out hardcore, don’t want to know what she was stupid enough to mix it with, but she would look over half caring then look away wanting to ignore the scene.
This is not the first time that I have taken people up here, more of a regular occurrence. I’m contemplating what to do with these girls. The drug fucked one will be of no risk to me. Or maybe she will have another use; if I drug Fake Tits she may have a threesome. Have to get rid of the blonde and the sooky one in the corner. Ahh the drinks are here, handing them around I make sure that the bigger one is given to Big Tits, the annoying one is refusing to take one and mutters something under her breath.

‘That’s it,’ I yell, the bouncer jumps up, knowing that he is needed. I pretend that I am offended by her lack of politeness, ‘I’ve taken her upstairs and shown you hospitality and what do you do? Throw it back in my face! Get out!’ I scream.

The bouncer jumps for her arms, pulls her up, kicks the door open and shoves her out. The blonde spits at me, Fake Tits tells her to sit down or get out.

‘I’ve had it with this shit Alicia, you can go get fucked, I’m going to go after her, make your own way home and don’t talk to me anymore. I can’t believe that you would let him do this to us’, she yells at Fake Tits, storms over, opens the door and slams it behind her.

With that commotion over I nod to the bartender to make us up a round of Jagerbombs, those things are lethal, especially after a few. A smashing noise breaks my concentration, he apologises, his hand slipped and a glass broke. At least the sook and the stupid blonde are gone. Comatose brunette faces me, asking for another drink. I tell her that they are on the way, getting up to get the drinks; I inconspicuously pick up a rohypnol tablet and slip it into my pocket. I look back at Fake tits, her eyes are drawn to the window, diagonally across there are a couple having sex on the veranda, the woman’s face is in a moment of pure joy and the man looks like he is concentrating. I’m starting to get hard watching the scene and Fake Tits keeps looking at me and crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Turning around to pick up the tray I pop the tablet into one of the Jagerbombs, turning around I grin at Fake Tits and Comatose. As I set down the tray comatose reaches for a drink, almost swiping the drugged one, she grabs two of the ones beside it and shots them down without the red bull. Fake tits high fives her and takes a bomb. I sit between them, arms across their shoulders, I nod at my bartender to go and do something else. He takes the hint when I hand the drugged one to Fake Tits, by now, her chest is half hanging out, I can see a nipple and she knows this and doesn’t care. I suggest that she and comatose come back to mine, that seems to snap her out of her seductive mood and starts grabbing for her bag, she shots down her drink as if alarm bells are going off in her head. As she does this, I feel a warm wet sensation on my chest, looking down I see Comatose, passed out and dribbling all over me.

Fake Tits stands up, but in her heals she cannot walk anymore; the drug must have kicked in, finally. She starts swaying, but not to any music that I can hear, her legs go wobbly and I stand up to catch her. I motion for the bouncer to move comatose to another lounge and then go downstairs. When it is free, I take off my wet shirt and lie her down. She looks like a doll to me. Her blush all red, hair half messed up, but in a sexy way, her heals slightly falling off her feet and her dress clinging to her body. She has passed out, breathing heavy and deep, I trace the outline of her red lipped mouth. Her hands are by her side occasionally opening and closing.

I put my hands in hers and lift them above her head, so that her tits are at their best looking point, nice and pert. I reach up and grab them, pulling at them through the material, fondling them as rough as I can. Reaching down I yank her dress so that it’s now above her head. Her panties are small and encompass all of her. Her bra is black and boring, it has to come off. I rip the material between her cups hard, wanting it to break; it does, just as I like it. I will be keeping this as a souvenir. Her tits fall free, large and soft; they will not stay like this for long. I am now hard; I sit between her chest and rub myself between her breasts, it feels like her vagina. I am almost about to blow my load, but I don’t want to do it on her chest; I want it to go down her throat. I prise her mouth open with one finger and shove myself down into the hole. I increase my motion so that I am now fucking her mouth. I’m about to come and I empty it down her gaping mouth. I take it out and look at her; I poke her belly button, not knowing what to do. I’m half tempted to cut her open, fuck her or just dump her downstairs. All three sound like good ideas. I walk over to where the bar is, picking up a bit of glass that the barman broke earlier and take it over to Fake Tits.

Standing over her, I reach down and grab a breast, gripping it hard, I make a small incision at the bottom and I stick a finger in feeling around for the implant. I find it and stick my thumb in there too, pulling it out. A whimper escapes her mouth. I repeat with the other breast. The implants sit on her nipple as if they were provoking them to poke it. I seize her panties and cut it off with the piece of glass in my hand. I shove three fingers in her hole, making squelching noises; I slap her juices on myself and thrust into her. Fuck, she is tight, almost virgin tight. It is so tight that I’m not going to be able to last much longer. With that, I explode into her, my whole body shake but no reaction from her. Not that I care anyway.

I find her clitoris and make small cuts on it, blood drops onto my hand. I reach up, taking a hold of her chin, blood staining her now white cheeks, and ask her what her name is. She cannot reply, so I pick up her wallet from her bag. Alicia Granton. What a boring name. I tell her that she should have listened to her friend and not come up. I put the implant and the bleeding flesh into the bra and pull her dress down back under her head. Calling for the bouncer, he picks her up and brings her downstairs. I give the lounge quick wipe over, cark the strobe lights for a few seconds to let him drop her somewhere, grab another shirt from the closet and casually stroll down stairs to start all over again.

Not Something From The Olden Days

The constant talking about teenage mothers in the media used to surround my thoughts, not wanting to think nor believe that it was possible. The cool clear jelly sent shivers up my spine as it was smeared over my exposed stomach. The two litres of water that I had previously drunk that filled my bladder began to churn. The ultrasound device was cold, gently but firmly being pushed around my belly. The prenatal heart beat listener caught its purpose; the soft tapping of a small heart beat broke the silence between the nurse and me. On the ultrasound screen, a vague outline of a baby could be seen. The nurse repeatedly told me that I was a brave young girl; all I could do was thank her, not knowing what else to say.
The ten minute walk felt as if it was three days going by, the cars were driving slowly and the traffic lights refused to change and the clouds overhead changed into a million different shapes, thanks to the wind. She had to know, I had to tell her sometime, five months had already passed and she had to let me keep it, surely? She had commented a few weeks ago that I had put on a bit of weight; secretly I knew what the reason was. She looked up when the sound of the flyscreen door creaked open, walking in, eyes downcast, she asked what was wrong. Taking me upstairs to talk, I said that I had something that I needed to tell her. Blurting it was accompanied with a gush of tears, which had been held back for the past five months from the point of denial. My boyfriend and I discussed the thought of having an abortion, him on centrelink and I did not having a job, as I was fifteen closed that idea, with the slamming of a door. The reason why I had waited so long to tell her was because I was 5 months gone, and there was no way that they could terminate the pregnancy. Or so I thought. Mom told dad, I sat there when she told him balling my eyes out. Something killed me that instant, the changing of emotions in his eyes, fear, hatred, scared, humiliated, sad, disappointment and worry.
Four thirty in the afternoon saw the booming of the three local phone books being slammed on the wooden table. Dad’s hands trembling as he flicked through the pages, abortion, that is what he was after. Numerous times I told them that I did not want to have an abortion, this was rejected with the rebuttal – it wasn’t my choice, I had already made the decision and now it was their turn to fix it. They found someone that would legally consider it. A fifteen year old, who is pregnant to a immature twenty one year old, five months gone and only just told her parents? Most of the people answering the phones laughed. I wished that it was a joke, but it was not. Brisbane. 6. 30 Am. two days time. During that time there were things to be organised. $3500, another ultrasound, and facing the heart ache from my parents.
The feeling of fear swept through me as I waited for the nurse to come and conduct the ultrasound and examination, mom sat on a chair two metres from the bed, not able to look at me or in any direction towards me. Two ladies from the reception talked about me in hushed tones. The words fifteen, five months, just told her parents, emergency to get in and many more floated down the corridor to where I could hear them. I wondered where they found out all this information, then realised that mom knew one of them and then it all added up. The nurse popped her head in the door and came to perform the task at hand. When the baby’s body came up on the screen, mom let out a horrible gasp and left the room. The feeling of dread gripped all the nerve endings, organs and muscles in my body, half recognising that it is mine and the other knowing that there is now way that I cannot get out of the abortion. The nurse told me that it is a boy, a fine young healthy boy. Also, that his foot was the size of my pinkie. Waiting outside for me was mom, tears in her eyes.

Silence engulfed my presence between the ultrasound and the four am wake up call to drive to Brisbane. I could not look either of them in the eye. The waiting room was full of women of various ages; we all knew what we were there. An overnight bag was tucked under dad’s arm; he was the one with me. At the time I wanted mom to be there, looking back I realise that he was the one who was the strongest at that point. First in, I was hit with a wall of questions, why are you here? Why didn’t you have this done earlier? How could you put your family through something like this? I explained to the best of my ability, although the nurse was not happy with my answers, deciding to send me to see the doctor. Sitting behind a desk, wearing a blue plastic robe she sat, she told me that she was not convinced that I wanted to have the abortion today, and until I proved this, she would not go through with it. Obviously not satisfied with my indecisiveness, she refused to operate, tears stinging my eyes I returned to the car. Four people sitting in the car, parents in shock of coming all the way there for nothing, one too young and oblivious the other desperate to be in control of everything. A vibrating sensation signalled a phone call was coming from my jean pocket. Unaware of whom it was, answering it, a wave of relief came over my parents. It was the clinic. They were offering me a week to think about it, and another opportunity next week if I decided that I wanted to go through with it. If I choose to not take that opportunity, I would be overdue for Brisbane, needing to be sent to Melbourne for double the price. My parent’s eyes boring into my head, I knew that I did not have any chance other than to say yes.
Same place, same early morning, except this morning protesters were lined up against the door. Screaming things, waving anti abortion sticks in our faces and the distilled and shocked looks veered my way, like tiny daggers carving away at my flesh. They were seizing me up, analysing my motives for walking up to an abortion clinic at that time, the dumbfounded age discriminative glances irritated me. The ground looked mighty fine at that point, the pebbles embedded in the white washed pavement, proving to be a temporary distraction until I got to the door. It was dark in the stairway, spiral staircase leading up to a door with no light shining through it. The gloom of what I was about to do sunk in.
The examination room, pristine white, spatulas, heart rate monitors and many other instruments of action were located around the room. A red wristband was attached to my arm, stating in bold black letters that this patient is allergic to popcorn. She laughed at the allergy when she wrote it, explaining that they most likely will not be serving popcorn at any time during the process. Directed to go sit in a waiting room, shielded from the world, a pair of frog covered pyjamas sat next to me. Their eyes looking at me as if I was an unnatural being, it could have been paranoia, although it did not seem like it. Other women were directed into the room, a television in the corner blasted out the day’s weather, not that we could see what it was going to be like, the windows were covered with maroon heavy curtains, blocking out any glimpse of sunlight. Head in my hands, to stop it from spinning and thinking about what was going to happen in a few minutes. From what seemed like a far off distance, a voice called my name, a strong voice, full of power; it came closer as I brought my mind back to reality. Standing to greet the man calling me, he asked me to follow him. A room, with bright lights and a window facing the city building district greeted me, like the first room it was pristine clean. Floors recently mopped and the distinct smell of disinfectant filled the room. He pointed to a hospital bed, that had what looked like crutches at the end, and asked me to jump up. Lying down, a needle was placed neatly into the fold between my arm forearm and my upper arm. The murmuring of the people’s voices telling me that it is just the pain killers being released into my blood stream seeped into my ears. Over my head, an oxygen mask was placed and I was asked to count back from ten. 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5...
Bright light seared through my eyelashes, making me want to not open my eyes. Biscuits and crackers are all that I can see, pain griped my lower body; I reached for a biscuit and shoved it into my mouth, waiting for the surge of sugar to reach the bloodstream. The ceiling was white, the carpet was blue and the chairs were a horrible white. I knew that this was not the end of it. Another day to go, the rods were inserted and the preparations were made.
The day was not something that I wanted to go through with, sitting in the same room, looking at the same biscuits, crackers and thinking about the situation, with a longing to keep the child that is inside of me. Tears of heart ache sliding down my cheek, rolling down my chin, the nurse asked me what was up, through the sobs, words of anguish spilled out, trying to reason with her and myself secretly. It was too late, in a few hours I was going to go into labour. Whilst being shown to a hospital bed, needles of pain struck into my lower stomach, wincing to try to avoid the pain, I begged for relief. A wheat bag was thrown my way, a distraction or a relief was something that I was unsure if it was or not. My bladder was threatening to break, calling for the nurse; I told her that I need to use the toilet. This was allowed, only if I didn’t give birth in the toilet. Promising, that no, I wouldn’t, or at least try not to, a crumpled heap of mass hobbled towards the toilet. Relief struck as my bladder began to empty, though the agony of the contractions made my head spin. Unable to get off the toilet successfully, a doctor helped me back to my bed, every time a nurse walked by, a moan for pain killers would suppress past my lips. A constant no tormented me, birth time was 2.30, another hour away, and the contractions were getting closer. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on, eyes rolling around the back of my head, pain engulfing the whole body.
Dozing off, a sharp pain awoke me from my slumber, a quick glance up at the clock signified that it was time. A bell on the bedside table began ringing, a nurse came and announced that antibiotics were needed to be inserted anally, and that rolling over was a necessity. Not that it was something that I enjoyed, nor would ever enjoy; any resistance would ultimately hurt more. Doing what was expected, rolling over and getting it over and done with, a man wheeled my bed into the clean sterilised room. It took three people to move me onto the operating table, as I could not move myself, two legs were propped up on the instruments that looked like crutches and the oxygen mask was lowered over my face. 10... 9... 8...

I remember and I don't remember

I remember sitting alone on the silver lined seats at lunch and recess time, trying to inconspicuously drop my sandwich behind the seat, between it and the wall. The embarrassment when the teacher, after a few days of finding mouldy sandwiches asked the class whose they were, a girl who was supposed to be my friend stuck her hand up and told miss that it was me. I didn’t want to eat the sandwich because there was too much butter on it and I thought that butter and bread would make me fatter than I was. I remember the look on my mom’s face when the teacher told her what I was doing, tears rolling down my cheeks and denying that I did it because I was self conscious about my weight. I’m still in denial now.



I don’t remember my parent’s obsession with a camera. Every event was captured by at least one photo. My second birthday, which I had three parties, one at my nanas, the second at my auntie’s and the third at a friend’s all of them in Ireland. The piles of photos bring my back to the day, which was 17 years ago. Just like the Easter Bunny parade or hunt, this human sized bunny towered over me, my grinning face and golden curly haired head staring up in amazement. Both these memories and millions more captured by a snapshot of the reality that once was.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

I remember...

I remember the way that I felt about life, the way that i felt exposed to the wilderness surrounding me. No one to turn to, nothing to do about it. My thoughts blurring the reality of life. I'm unable to distinguish the two from each other. The feelings that i know are mine are widely flung to the deep midsts of my mind, buried under ten thousand fluttering papers. As if a ceiling fan is trying to make me think about them, unwittingly. I'm not sure that i can keep going on like this, trying not to think of my past, it is a black cloud hanging over the horizon, threatening lashings of rain and bright lightning, with an expectation of dread that engulfs the air around it. I can feel it coming, the brooding of pain and heartache. I do not want to deal with it, I cannot. I wish that i was strong enough, but yet i continue to push it to the back, unwanting to deal with it or see it. I wish that it wasn't this hard, that it would disapper forever, leaving me peaceful and accepting of the past, present and future.

She recalls what it felt like, before. Being exposed to the wilderness that surrounded her. She had no one to turn to, and could do nothing about it. Somehow her thoughts blurring the reality of life, or so she told me. She was unable to distinguish the two from each other. She described how her thoughts were flung to the deepest midst of her mind, and buried under thousands of papers, which fluttered, a fan overhead was trying to make her think about them, unwittingly. I asked what her mind looked like. Like a black cloud, hanging over the horizon. Threatening lashings of rain and bright light. A certain exectation of dread, engulfing the air around it. She didn't want to think of her past, and she can't keep going on like this. She can feel it coming, the broding of pain and heartache. I do not want to deal with it, she yells, I cannot! I wish that i was strong enough, i keep pushing it back, not wanting to deal with it or see it. She breaks down, crying, she mutters, I wish that it wasn't this hard, that it would disappear forever, leaving me peaceful, accepting of the past, present and future. She has done it, made a break through, and for that I am proud.

You recalled the way that you felt about life. The way that you felt exposed to the wilderness surrounding you. Claiming that you had no one to talk to and couldn't do anything about it. We could never understand the way that you said the your thoughts were blurring the reality of life, and being unable to distinguish the two from each other. The psychologist described how your thoughts were strewn around your mind, somewhat buried under millions of papers. I'm not the bad person, you are the one on the horizon, the black cloud threatening lashings of rain, bright lightening, the expexectation that fillls the room when you arrive, you suck the air out of the room and me. Apparantly you cannot keep going on like this, you try to block out the past, but aren't we all? You cannot view the heart ache and the pain that is causing us, can you? And you think that you aren't strong enough? I cannot deal with it either! Why can you just let it go? It is the past, pushing it to the back, and not wanting to deal with it will make it worse. Trust me I know. We both wish that it wasn't this hard, that you would disappear forever, leaving me peace and acceptance. You will have the past present and future with out us, but can you forget the pain?

Shopping

Write a very short sketch in which two characters shop for a present for a wedding, attend the wedding and visit the home where the gift resides five years later. Use a little dialogue. Now change the order. What is the effect of the different order of events?



'She wouldn't like that and she sure as hell wouldn't like that. Way too tacky', Jarrod exclaims pointing first at a dining table then at a knife and fork set.
'What do you get for the people that have everything?', I mumble under my breath,
'They did say not to bring anything, Shazza', I add excitedly.
'Yeah, but you know Toz and Jok, they are going to expect something from us, I mean you know what they got us for our wedding..' He says, with his back to me.
'Oh, right, what did they get us again?' I ask somewhat confused.
He shakes his head at me and tutts. We decide on getting them a gift voucher for a local furniture store.

Driving along in the Limo, I stare off out of the window, the road is pocketed with pot holes and what not. Grocers, pawn shop, meat shop, furniture shop and a jewellers. This town is nothing special, a few shops, couple of hundred people and pretty much nothing else, just routine.
The scrambling out of the car, followed by the sermon flow on almost endlessly, i take no notice. Being a bridesmaid means nothing to me, just having to dance with the Best Man and having to look spiffy for the second time in my life, the first being my wedding.The reception is full of the same old people, the same old alcohol, the same old smell, nothing's changed and I doubt that it ever will. This certainly isin't what I want to do for the rest of my life. After sitting there for hours, it's all over, not a tead shed that night, suprisingly.



Driving through this town again, after a while maybe a couple of years, can't remember, nothing's changed. All that has seemed to change is the amount of pot holes in the road, I swear that they have multiplied a million times, every few seconds there is a bump. I decide to call in on the last people that I remember seeing here, Toz and Jok. They now live on a ridge just outside town, or so I've heard. Clearing the town, I spot a house, just like they described it, placed on the hill. I'm sure that it would have looked great a few years ago, but it's become derelict. Tiles have shimmied off the roof, grass almost knee height, door half swinging off the hinges and the verandah half painted.
Pulling up in the driveway, stepping out onto the ground, my heels dig into the soil, leaving little patterns. I wander up to the house, wary of the possibilities of snakes in the grass but figuring that if they bite anything, its most likely going to be my heels - I'm not too worried.Knocking on the door, it swings open, termites infested in the wood, holes scattered throughout the door I can almost see through it. It is dark inside, nappies strewn everywhere, clusters of beer cans litter the floor and a half eaten chicken roast left on the table, flies buzzing around it. Why is the place like this, I wonder, everyone said that it was beautiful, what happened?

Walking into the kitchen, my heels clicking on the floor, creating clean patches, somewhat removing a few of the layers of dead skin. I see a person gripping the handle of a cup, head on the table, hair limp and greasy, spread over the head and arms. Noticing something in the doorway, the figure looks up, it's Toz, her eyes are shrunken in her head, black bags under them, lips thin and wing blast cracked. For a moment we do not recognise each other. She mutters my name and gets up to hug me. The smell of urine fills the air, it gets closer as she moves nearer. Looking her up and down I see that she has stains on her tattered night gown. Hugging me slightly, the smell of urine is overpowering, now I know that it is her, she smells! A wave of disbelief washes over me.
She takes my hand and shows me around the house. Each room gets worse as we go through. She has two kids, a boy and a girl, both run around naked. I ask where Jok is, in return I get a icy stare and she mutters that an answer.
'He is in Gaol for murdering one of the kids', she exclaims in a low voice,'I though that you would have known about it all, it was all over the news for weeks.'
Shaking my head, I look at her.
'After you left, just after the wedding, it just kept going down hill, he began abusing me, destroying everything, he left with nothing, except one thing and that was this..' Her voice trailing off into the next room, begging me to follow.
Hesitantly I follow her, her back turned away from me, she slowly looks around, when it catches her eye, she picks it up and hands it to me.
'What is it?', I ask, it looks like nothing, or at least like nothing special.
'It's what you and Jarrod gave me for our wedding, I know that you guys got a divorce, but I'm just going to say that the present that we got with the voucher just made my day'

She says, her eyes piercing mine.It's a box, well I think that its a box, brown and wooden, there is latch, opening it, I see a picture of them together frame and the wedding rings placed separatly. A feeling of relief surges through me, at least it is nothing scary I think, a bit happier. A noise comes from outside, Toz looks up, almost afraid and starts ushering my out of the house, grabbing the box from my hands, chucking it to the ground. Something is wrong, I can sense it, she is trying to push me out of the back door. I lose my balance, losing a heel, she pushes me out the door, without noticing, closing the door behind me.I hear voices coming from inside, slowly opening the door, wanting to grab my shoe, the voice becomes recognisable.
Stepping into my heel and walking towards the kitchen, heels still making clopping noises, I walk into the space, realising who the voice belonged to. He has his arms around her, lips locked onto hers, eyes closed until I enter the room. When he sees me, he lets go of her, a look of suprise on his face. It's him. Jarrod. Walking up to her, who is completly oblivious to my presence, I whisper in her ear.'How could you? I hope that you rot in hell you lying bitch, I hope that Satan eats your soul and that you never find happiness again', bile rises in my throat and I walk out. AHe comes running after me screaming 'I was going to tell you!'.I get into my car and drive away, making a vow to myself to never come back again.

Formal

The wind was slightly blowing through my straight hair. I'm at the top of Point Danger, where you can see forever. A smirk creeps across my face.The cold metal of the bench sends shivers down my spine. In the far off distance are the waves crashing against the beach. A few surfers are dotted along the shoreline, waiting for the perfect wave.My formal dress flows around me, the silk sliding over my legs. I can feel my electric blue headband against my back, comforting my nerves of anticipation of the night to come.Dad is standing beside my, camera poised up to his eyes. He loves that camera, he claims that it only takes good photographs. I hear it clicking away. Looking at the camera, I smile and look away. The timely noise amuses me.My mind drifts somewhere else, the smell of the salty wind grabs my attention back to the present.Craig comes back and sits beside me, again the flickering of the flash continues. I tell dad that the flash doesn't need to be on, as the sun hasn't set. The constantly bright flahing light is blinding me, slowly anyhow.Looking behind me, the sun goes behind a cloud, making an orange solour fill the sky. The horizon is a red colour, whereas further away, is a precious purple.

Housemates

If only the kettle hadn't boiled over, it was one of thoes silly ones that skrieched at aa high pitch, gradually getting louder, until you switched it off.It wasn't my fault that Jason hadn't bothered to turn it off before he left. Housemates were like that, being lazy and half doing things, especially Jason. It was always left down to me to follow things through.The squealing cut had cut through my slumber, awakening me instantly. I jumped out of bed and ran to turn the stupid thing off.I turned around, out of breath, and felt a squelch, accompanied with a substance seeping through my toes. Dreading to look down, my eyes wandered in that direction. There under foot, lay a brow, mushy, warm object."Santa!", I yelled at the top of my lungs.That ungodly dog had come through the open doorway when Jason had left. Walking to the doorway, I could see the ashamed dog cowering in behind the compost bin, looking out at me.'Dumb Dog...' I muttered, shaking my fist at him.I didn't like dogs much anyway, have always preferred cats. More composed and stylish

Three People

If you want a writing exercise, do another "I remember" and introduce another character - someone else who was there. Let the story grow to take in the other person's story arc, even if you launch into totally imaginary directions.Or, pick up the photograph recall exercise we tried. Now set up the same scene but tell it from the point of view of the person who took the photograph. Was there someone who WASN'T in the photograph? where were they? why were they missing? What was going on for them? Set it up with all the concrete details necessary to anchor it in place




Just like an angel, her skin makes me cry, she is so soft. I adore her. Although I don’t know why she won’t open up and talk to me. I do not know what is going on in her life. She cries herself to sleep, I was with her once, she laid her head on my shoulder and whimpered to herself. Not speaking at all. I just held her in my arms. I made her feel comfortable, for once in her life. After awhile, she stood up and walked off, into the distance. I wish that she could open up to me, like she does to her friends. She laughs with them, her beautiful smile is framed by her free flowing hair, and it is a light shade of bronze with a slight wave to it. She’s perfect when she is with them, I’m not sure if it is her way of dealing with it, by hiding it behind a sheet of glass, protecting herself? But one day, someone is going to throw a brick through it, and the glass is going to shatter into a million pieces. I want to be the one that is there to pick up the broken pieces and help put herself back together. No matter what, she needs to know that I am going to be there for her, I’m never going to leave, because she is my angel, which has fallen from heaven.

My boy, has become obsessed with this schizophrenic, she comes around to his granny flat, and sit there. Not talking. Not moving. Sitting watching the sun go down. It is appalling. She constantly cries. What am I going to do with my boy? He is all that I have got, since his father died. I depend on him, whether or not I want to admit or not, but I am. She sucks the life out of him. I cannot have a decent conversation with him, without her name being brought up within 25 seconds. He thinks that he is in love with her. But he cannot be! How is this possible? She is nothing like his biological mother. She sees, hears and thinks strange things, things that do not exist. I mean my life is screwed up as it is; we do not need this tag along to ruin it even more. She has no job. No money. No life. This is not the life that I want him to lead, a life of a no hoper. He has everything in front of him, university, jobs, marriage and life! I will not let him throw that all down the drain.

I really shouldn’t have anything to do with it, but I cannot help but to overhear the conversations that go on beside me. I in fact live between two families, on either side of my house. Both of the neighbours have two teenagers which are in love with other. It is beautiful love. They forever look into each other’s eyes; they can see the world throughout. They both come from a broken past. The girl’s father left them when she was 6. It devastated her mother clearly. She used to stand at the bottom of the driveway, shouting obscenities at each male driver that went past. The girl ran away a few times, each time the police found her and brought her back. It is said among the neighbours, that the mother sleeps with one of the police, but one cannot be sure.
On the other side of my fence is the boy, his father and sometimes the father’s many male partners. The boy finished school last year and works part time at the local supermarket. Most of the locals do their weekly shopping there, which is a bad, as many of the locals throw rotten eggs at him, or over ripe tomatoes. They do not like that his dad is a homosexual. You would think that it wouldn’t matter; I mean it is the 21st century. Women have equal rights, Aboriginals can vote, so why is homosexuality not acceptable? I don’t know, but it is slightly sad. The father lives off Centrelink, they both live off what the boy makes at the supermarket. I assume that it is barely anything.
I go through their rubbish sometimes, finding many empty cans of baked beans and spaghetti. And of course many used condoms, which is somewhat of a surprise. They spend more money on protection rather than food? Interesting!
The boy and the girl find solstice within each other, they escape their own horrible lives to accept and be with each other, although I do not know how ling it is going to last. I’d personally only give it another few months, as the boy is going to university in another state sometime next year. She has been having other males in her bedroom, tying them up to her bed, blindfolding them and having her way with them. She has never done that to the boy. I think that I have never seen them in her room. The boy doesn’t know about the other men. He wouldn’t keep seeing her if he knew.

Banshee

The Tale of the Banshee
Simone Healy

There we sat, I’m absorbed in a book and he’s watching the game in his new toy, his 72” inch plasma. It almost takes up the whole room. His arm is around my shoulders, head nestling gently there. The opposing team run for the score line, and he jumps up, shouting obscenities at the referee. Who of course can’t hear him. I’m somewhat glad that we are not at the pitch, otherwise I’m sure that he would jump the fence to the pitch. Run up and tackle the team to try to stop them form scoring.
Shaking my head at his groans, they scored and it was converted too. This place needs to be cleaned, I think, whilst scanning the room. The television needs to be dusted, our plush Italian leather, which is inhabitant by two people at the current moment in time needs a good vacuum. I can see tonight’s dinner dishes sitting in the stains steel kitchen, the clean parts gleam in the moonlight.
The windows fill the wall, past them is our swimming pool, reflecting the light off the house and the moon. Hanging behind me is an original Van Gogh. Sunflowers. I like to get lost in it. Imagining myself living in one of the flowers, being covered in pollen, shrouded from life and all its troubles.
He, who is my husband, sits down, after finishing his abusive rampage with the T.V.
Standing up I tell him that I’m going to check my emails and then going to go to bed. He mumbles something, without looking up, eyes mesmerised still on the game.
Up to my study I go. Logging in, the blue light illuminates the room, ‘Windows XP Loading…” flashes up on my screen. It is so conforming, that’s why I hate some computers, they are all the same. ‘I need to take it to the shop to get the processing power fixed. It’s so slow!’ I mumble.
I have a few emails, nothing interesting. Mainly spam, wanting to know if I want to enlarge my penis. They never bothered to check my gender. It’s like I haven’t got a penis, would you like to check? Obviously not!
Oh, a thought passed my mind, reminding me of the need to see if Daniella was online. Signing into Chat Live, please confirm your password banshee24. Yes, Daniella is online, we talk about her being a prostitute and what she does to please the men, I pick up a few tips! Ending the conversation with a smiley face, tongue poking out, it makes me feel cheeky. Logging off I go to bed.

*

‘BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!’ Oh Snap! I look over to the stupid alarm clock, 3.30am, the thought of deciding not to go to work muses me. Throwing my arm over to the other side of the bed, I find that he is already up and the aroma of coffee wafts up the stairs. Chucking on a nightgown, I sidle down the stairs. Through the corner of my eye, he is visible, standing in the kitchen, back turned towards me. I go closer to him, and wrap my arms around him. He gets a shock and moves away, I guess that he didn’t hear me coming. All ready for work in his suit, brief case standing on the bench, laptop poking out of it. His phone on the bench beside it. He mumbles that he didn’t sleep last night and the game was screwed up. Putting down his coffee down on the marble bench, he pecks me on the cheek and grabs his laptop. Walking out the door, he doesn’t glance at me like he usually did when he left.
When we first became married it was good, we were happy, had our honeymoon in Austria, in the snow. It was fabulous! But its changed, that is what everyone was telling me, that it would be different. I miss the old him, he was proud of me, always all over me, kissing me and playfully slapping me on the ass. I don’t know how to get back to that way again. Together we were trying for a baby, and I’m not sure if I am pregnant or not. I will have to get a test today.

*

Closing the door, I head to my car. We are somewhat distance, my wife and I, but there is nothing that I can do about it now. Starting the engine, I grip onto the steering wheel, thinking of the day to come. It is 3.45am, I need to be at work in 45 minutes, it is a possible journey, just one that I do not want to make. It would be easier if work was closer. But I don’t want to be near her, she repulses me, I have no idea why. I was in love with her months ago, when we were trying for a baby. She may be pregnant now for all I know. I pull out of the driveway, and the highway stretches out in front of me. Half an hour passes and I hit the city, the lights glare down on the road, dimming between the lights, then becoming bright, over and over again. Turning off the highway, and down to a street off my workplace, I see the usual amount of people on the street corners.
They are scantily clad, the four of them, obviously waiting for their shift to end or someone to pick them up. The general dress is fishnet stockings, short skirts, short shorts and a bikini top or a bra. One catches my eye, she is beautiful, she wears a black corset, black fishnets and a black g-string, which shows off her ass perfectly, she reminds me of my wife, the way that she used to dress before we got married. I look her up and down and lick me lips. It is 4.30am, I will need to hurry for me not to be late, I drive off, stealing my eyes away from the sight.
*

It is late and I had better be going home. Pressing the elevator button to go down, it opens and I step in. I watch the floors go down. 210.. 156.. 101.. 42... 32.. 3.. 2..1.. G.. B. Looking down at my hands I check to make sure that I have everything, my phone, wallet, laptop and case. Yes it’s all in order. I waltz over to my car, looking around for anyone that I may know. I get into my car and begin making my way out of the car park.
*

He pulls up beside me. The passenger window is wound down, and a head pops out.
‘What can I do for ya?’ I ask, with a slur in my voice, chewing on a piece of gum.
‘I’m looking for some company, am I at the right place?’ he asks, looking me in the eye.
‘If you’re gonna pay the right price, ya might be.’ I say, watching him out of the corner of my eye.
I hesitate for a second, drop my fag out of my hand and squish it with the top on my stiletto. Pulling the handle open, I get into his luxury car. He must be rich, he has satellite navigation, a sound system and is wearing a high priced suit. These are the men that I usually get. Ugly. Depressed. Rich. They almost always have insecurities and a wife at home. Sometimes I feel guilty but other times I couldn’t care less. He asks my name, I reply, ‘Daniella, and what’s it to ya?’
‘I just want to know the name of the woman that I am taking home tonight’ he remarks with a smirk on his face, ‘Oh and my name is Mark, so you had better remember it, as you will be screaming it tonight’
I laugh to myself. His confidence is amusing. This is going to be an interesting night. We pull up outside the Versace hotel. He has to be made of money, this is only where the high rollers come. Walking up to the counter, he asks for the reservation of Mark. He grabs the keys and pulls me into him, smelling my scent. He licks my ear, and I bite him back. The attendant gives me a disapproving look, shaking her head. Screw her I think. I make more money in one night then what you do in a week. We hit the elevator button and disappear upstairs.
*

Work was terrible, my feet ache, and it is 10.20pm and he is not home yet. I can usually hear his car pull up on the driveway about 7.30pm. And now I am worried. He could’ve been in a car accident, or pulled over by the cops. Or something! I try calling his phone, no one answers. After my fifth call, the phone is turned off. Where is he!?! Half an hour goes by, his phone still off. I ring the police, asking if there was any accidents on the highway, or any of the routes that he takes. Nope, nada, no. None on any of them. Where could he be?
I turn on the plasma, on channel v, the song playing, is Gwen Stefani’s ‘It’s My Life”. It’s at the part where she kills her lover. It is interesting! I’m glad that I never had a lover. Just watching the television allows me to be lost, for a while. It’s 12.20am, jeez! I hear something at the driveway. It is a car. I get up and look out the window. It’s him. There’s nothing wrong with his car, in perfect nick. I wonder what his excuse is.
He opens the door and walks in. Leaving his case at the door and taking his jacket off, hanging it off you wedding present or a coat rack. He looks at me, and I smile. Seeing this, he seems to relax.
‘What happened, hun?’ I asked.
‘ I got caught at work. Sorry I didn’t ring my phone died, and I left my charger at home. I missed you, how was your day?’ He asks.
Somewhat unconvinced, as when he stops in the light I see the remains of a red kiss outline on his cheek bone. ‘I had on okay day at work. I think that I may take a day off tomorrow, I’m not feeling well’
‘Okay beautiful, I’m glad that work was good, did u want me to stay at home to look after you?’ he asks.
‘No, no its okay, thanks though.’ I say and turn around and look at the television. He sits down with me, and he smells sweet. I can’t place my finger on what it is, but it is familiar.
After a few minutes I get up and say that I’m going to check my emails and go to bed. I kiss him where the red mark is on his face, he jumps, not expecting it. Telling me that he has to check his too, and gets up and goes to his study.
I sort myself out on the computer, logging on to Chat Live, wanting to print something, I go into his study and he is on chat live too. His name is sexyman23, and he is talking to Daniella. Hmm interesting. Walking into the room, he hurriedly minimises the chat log screen, and spins around what I am doing. I grab the paper and go, he smiles at me.
I see that a new person has started to talking to me. It is him! I’m slightly confused, why is he talking to me, when I am in the next room? Maybe he wants to talk to me? Or maybe he does not know that it is me? Pulling up the conversation with Daniella, she begins telling me about this man that picked her up tonight. He was tall handsome and knew what he was doing. She didn’t mind having him! And she was treated like royalty, they went to the Versace and she was paid for sex. It sounds better than my job.
He seems interested in me. We talk about everything over the next two hours. He does not realise that it is me. I discover that he thinks that his wife is pregnant (me), and that he is drawn away from me because we don’t have sex anymore and also because I am working too much. I am pregnant, actually. I took one of those tests, the ones that u pee on. And it came up positive. Do I tell him? Or leave it for now?
I also find out that he slept with a hooker. One that is on the corner opposite his workplace. It apparently was good. I’m utterly dumbstruck. He cheated on me tonight! SO that’s why he took so long in getting home!! I’m tempted to go in there and castrate him! How dare he! No, No I’m going to get my revenge on him, he will see. I tell him that I have to go to bed now, as I have to start work soon. He gets upset and begs me to stay. I decline his offer, and say that I will be online tomorrow, and with that answer he is happy.
I print out my email that I wanted to and logged off my computer, at that instant he walks into my doorway and tells me that he is going to bed, then walks off. I follow him upstairs.
*

‘BEEP, BEEP, BEEP’ sounds the alarm clock from upstairs. I am sitting downstairs, drinking my coffee, long, strong and black. I could not sleep. Last night’s encounter left me speechless. Daniella was beautiful and certainly talented. I did not expect it to feel so good. I do not consider it cheating because there was no feelings involved. My wife tried to have sex with me last night and I said no. Only because I was so sore from during the day. It would have been cheaper to just have sex with her. The prostitute cost $2170, there goes one weeks wages. If I go again tonight, I will get discount because I satisfied her. That is a bonus, I could never satisfy my wife. I hear a tumble noise come from upstairs, she must be up. I was talking to this wonderful woman online last night, her screen name was banshee24, she was really easy to open up to and talk to about everything, unlike my wife.
Here she comes. Down the stairs, in that tarty little leopard print dressing gown, barefoot. She looks up at me, I am ready to go to work, she always gets up to see me off. Turning to me, she tells me that she is pregnant. I look at her, dumbfounded. A part of me is overjoyed and the other half is dying inside, there goes my independence and my fun. Who is going to have to give up their day job? I do not want to be a stay at home dad! Okay, I am defiantly going to see Daniella tonight!
How could this happen to us? I do not want her to be pregnant!
Still flabbergasted that she has just told me this, when I am about to walk out the door! After a few seconds I say to her ‘That Is great honey.’ with no hint of enthusiasm. I peck her on the cheek and grab my stuff to go. Walking out the door she is still staring at me, hands by her side and shoulders half crouched over. I close the door, leaving behind all the anger, frustration, and sadness behind me.
*

That is great honey. That’s what my husband said. That is great honey. That is great honey. The words keep going round and around in my head. Should have seen his face drop when I told him. It was like the whole world was coming to an end. And I could see the thoughts of loosing his independence floating around in his head. It depresses me that he can think these thoughts. I think that he just needs time to think. I’m going back to bed, it is only 3.45am, and seeming as I’m not going to work today, I can sleep in.
*

I awake to me falling on the floor of the room, I must have misjudged the bed width when I was moving. Whoops! But it is a lovely day, the sun is shining and the crickets are clicking. Haha, he has to work. I put on the kettle and whilst waiting for it to boil, I log on my computer. No new facebook comments and another 6 enlargement penis emails. Chat Live, have sent me an email, say that sexyman23 has sent me a private message. Clicking on the link, it opens up to another page, full of live hearts and kiss marks. A message is inscribed on the page.

Dear banshee24,
I need to meet up with you, it is urgent. My wife is pregnant and I need someone to talk to. My way of dealing with this is by talking. Will you talk to me?
I am online now. Contact me, in a private conversation.
Sincerely,
Sexyman23.

My heart skips a beat, what do I do? A pop up on the right hand side of my screen comes up, informing me that sexyman23 has just come online. I change my status to away, and go make myself a cup of tea. What if it is more that talking? I mean that I already know that he has slept with one whore last night. I shall see if he comes home early tonight I will say no, but if he comes home late I will say yes.
*

Yes it is home time. Finally. I am still waiting for the reply from banshee24. My wife will not be happy, I am going to be late again. Daniella and I are going to go ‘out’ again. Last night was great. Leaving the building, I briefly think of my wife and my unborn child. A feeling of guilt grips my stomach but I push it aside.
*

He’s late again. It’s midnight and he’s still not home. I’m not worried. I know where he is. With another prostitute. Or someone that he has picked up. I mean he is a good looking man and could get practically anyone. Sometimes I can’t understand why he is with me. I’m just 5 foot 8”, long brown hair and a waist to die for. I’m not the best in the world. I jump on my computer, and respond to his message.


Dear sexyman23,
I would be delighted to meet with you.
How does tomorrow sound?
Where do you want to meet, as you cannot come here, my husband would find me out.
Hope to talk to you very soon,
Banshee24

I pause, and think for a second. Do I want to inflict revenge? Do I want to be a single mother and have to cope with everything by myself? I feel anxious for a second, slightly sick, then decide that no one does this to me, and I slam my finger down on the enter button, to send. The words ‘Sending message’ flash up on the screen. This will be fun, I mutter to myself, with a small smirk on my face. Then, as if far away I hear a car pull up in the driveway. I go to greet my husband.
His hand just touches the door handle, when I rip it open. He is surprised to see me, a stunned look plastered on his face.
‘Where have you been?’ I ask with a sharp tone in my voice.
‘No where,’ he mutters!
‘Yeah bullshit. Tell me where you have been!’
‘I haven’t been anywhere,’ he repeats
‘I don’t believe you! Where have you been? I bet that it was out with some prostitute, wasn’t it?’ I demand.
He looks downcast, as his feet.
‘No’ he answers after a few seconds pause
‘You are just like a little child, I can tell when you are lying! How could you do this to me? I am pregnant with your child and I love you. Can’t you see it in my eyes..‘ I say and grab his face, making him look at me.
A look of hatred nestles in his iris, pure loathing.
‘How dare you look at me like that! I am not in the wrong here! You are the one that is cheating on me.‘ Still looking into his eyes, I pull away and turn around and slap him on the face! Smack! The sound resonated through the whole house.
He looks at me in disbelief and horror.
‘You have never struck me before, why are you doing it now?’ He asks, knowing that he is in the wrong, half admitting it.
‘You know what? Yes, I slept with a hooker, she was better that you are or ever will be! You never want to have sex anymore, and I do not love you either. This is just a convenience thing for me.’ he yells at me, with passion, his whole face going bright red.
I look up at him, disbelief and pain surging through my body. I scream at him.
‘I hate YOU, I wish that I had never married you. I hate everything about you, your habits, your face, the way that you make the bed! EVERYTHING!’ Looking at him, his hands are clenched up at his side, face torn between anger and disappointment. I turn around and walk upstairs, to bed. Halfway up I turn and say ‘You are not welcome in this room tonight, go sleep somewhere else.’
*

After that comment she leaves me breathless, how could she be so heartless. I go to turn on my computer, my rage lashes out into my blood stream and I hit the desk, shaking and vibrating everything on it. When the stupid piece of machinery turns itself on, I find that banshee24 has replied to the message. The words somewhat sooth my temper. She wants to meet up! That makes me happy. Logging on to the Versace website I make a booking for tomorrow night, under the name Mark. I reply to her message with the details of where and when for the meeting. Somewhat more calm, I walk out of my study and up to the room. I hear her mumble ‘I told you that you were not welcome in here tonight!’ I ignore the comment and grab my pillow and a spare blanket and head towards the couch. There I have an uncomfortable sleep.
*

When I wake up he is gone. What a night. I’m glad that I’m not going to have another one of them anytime soon, I think and rub my eyes. I know that there is going to be a message from him in my inbox, I can’t wait to read it. Bounding down the stairs, I put the kettle on, I feel good, really good! I knew it! I have a message from him! He wants to meet me at the Versace at 7.30pm, the reservation is under Mark. Jeez he is stupid, I thought that he would have used an alias name, but I guess not. Daniella is online, she starts to talk to me, we talk for a few seconds. Then it just clicks. Maybe Daniella was the prostitute that he slept with? She works on the same street as his work and she did say that she ‘had’ someone or work the past two nights. Out of curiosity, I question her.
Banshee24: Soo what was the man that you ‘worked’ with like?
Daniella: He was tall and handsome, has a bit of weight around the stomach, but is in alright shape.
Banshee24: And? What was his name?
Daniella: Ya know I’m not supposed to tell ya those things. It’s against policy.
Banshee24: Oh go on! I’m not going to tell anyone, and I probably won’t know them. You know that I live out in the sticks!
Daniella: Well, yah, ok. His names Mark and he works over the road in some fancy building. Wears a suit. Bit high class for moi.
Banshee24: Wow, sounds good! Listen, I have to go to work now, but I will talk to you soon. Are you going to see him again soon?
Daniella: Yeah, apparently not tonight but tomorrow night.
Banshee24: Have fun with that. C’ya.
The conversation makes me interested and angry. Out of all the women that he could have picked, he took Daniella the prostitute. I thought that he could do better than that. The news makes me glad that I am going to meet him tonight. Hmm, I have to go to work and stop off at the local shops, to pick up some “supplies”.
*

It’s 6.30 and I am outside the Versace. I am shaking in anticipation. I have a blonde wig on, it’s a tightly curled one. Something like Marilyn Monroe’s hair. I’m wearing a skin tight red dress, and a pair of six inch wedges. Walking into the foyer, I look around. The only person visible is the receptionist. I ask for the keys to the reservation for Mark, handing them to be, she gives me a disapproving look. I head towards the elevator, thinking about what the look could mean. I give up after a few seconds. Meh, I think to myself, it doesn’t matter. Placing the key in the door, I am surprised at how spacious the room is. It overlooks the broad water, pastel coloured and beautiful.
Standing at the bed, I open my bag that I brought with me. In it is my new lingerie, a hair dryer, a million candles, a lighter, a night gown and strip of black material. With this all set out in front of me, I begin to get ready, I scatter the hoards of candles around the bathroom, lighting each one, methodically. A routine is established. Pick one up, light it, place it down with the design facing forwards. I turn on both the taps of the bath and let it run to fill up. 6.45pm I finish lighting them and begin to get myself ready.
Taking off my dress, I slide a corset over my arms, squeezing it down over my shoulders. I accidentally put it on sideways, so I need to slide it around, I giggle at my foolishness. I take the ribbon in my hands and fasten it, so that it pulls my stomach taught, squeezing my breasts together. I feel enhanced and sexy. I feel powerful and ready to take on the world. I pull on a g-string, one that shows off my ass perfectly. Grabbing the unopened pair of fishnet stockings, I open them and roll them over my legs. I attach them to my g-string with a tie. My elbow high black satin gloves, ah they take my breath away, making my arms look skinny and sexy. Standing up, I look through my bag, looking for the last essential, my 6 inch heels. I spin around and look at myself in the mirror. I can barely recognise myself. Here is this beautiful woman standing before me. She is tanned, blonde and wearing a black sexy outfit. She looks fabulous, and I am surprised at how good I look. Then I remember the bath! I forgot to turn it off. Running to the bathroom, I stop it before it gets to the top.
Walking into the bedroom, I clear the bed, leaving one item plugged into a power point in the bathroom and the other in my hand. Now I have to wait. He is going to be here any minute. I stand up and look at myself in the mirror again. I model for myself, it is fun! A knock at the door startles me. I walk over and open the door slightly. There he is. Waiting for me to open the door for him.
*

I know that she is in there, I can see that she has opened the door a crack. She opens it more and commands me to come in with my eyes closed. I do as I am told. Walking in the door, she puts something over my eyes, tying it tightly around my head. She takes my hand, and leads me into what I think is the bathroom, from the way that her heels click against the floor. Whispering in my ear, and nibbling my neck makes me excited. I ask her to take off the blindfold, she just puts her finger on my lips and shushes me. I feel her hands inside my suit, she feels my nipples through the shirt. Pulling the suit off, the buttons of my suit are beginning to come undone, one by one, exposing my chest.
When all of them are undone, she untucks the shirt from my pants and lets it too drop to the floor. My belt is the next thing to come off. She whips it out of the material with a shhhlip. Pain surges through me as she lashs me with it on my arse. I yelp out in surprise! She tells me to be quiet. I obey. She slowly undoes my zipper of the pants, and the button, expecting her to take them off slowly too, she whips them down, exposing my banana man boxers. She tells me to take off my shoes and socks, and stand still in that spot. Kicking off my pants too, she scratches me chest, all the way down to my boxers. Without stopping she slides her hands down them, cradling my bum in her hands. She slips them down my legs and I groan slowly. Whispering in my ear, I’m told that I’m going to be getting into the bath, and if I touch the blindfold then there will be trouble. At the mention of trouble she bites my nipple, I cringe. She guides me to the tub and allows me to sit in the hot water, bathing.
After a few minutes of her walking around in the bathroom, I can feel her presence come closer to me. Reaching behind my head she undoes the blind fold. The light blinding me, I cannot see for a few seconds, when my eyes adjust, I see this beautiful woman standing in front of me. She has curly blonde hair, dressed so sexily that I just want her now. She towers over me. I am awestruck. She begins to talk, and her voice sounds familiar.
*

Two hands behind me, I start to talk. ‘I have been waiting for this moment all my life babe’ I tell him. He stares up at me, a look of lust and adoration in his eyes. Reaching behind my head, I feel for the back of the wig. When I have it, I rip it off and my brown curls fall onto my shoulders, an ‘Oh’ is emitted from his mouth. ‘This will teach you for cheating on me,’ I say, turning on the hairdryer, I toss it into the bathwater. He tries to lunge out the bath, but the electricity is too quick. He is dead in a matter of nanoseconds. The lights go on and off, not liking the water. I hurriedly walk away . Into the bedroom, I grab my bag, quickly slip another black dress on, shoving the wig into my bag. I get to the elevator, and press the ground floor. Just as the door closes I see the hotel staff running out of the lift, to check the commotion. I just missed them. When I get out, no one is at the receptionist’s desk and I waltz out of the building.
Simone Healy 2008

Stall

Stall

You can find me, hiding in the background of the local markets. The bright lights trying to highlight my face. I stand behind the hanging skinned cats, chickens, panda parts, rabbits and pheasants. I’m not like the other shopkeepers, I do not yell at the foreign tourists. I prefer to stand quietly, and people seem to be drawn to me. Am I? I do not know. I consider myself plain. They come up to me, not trying to barter my prices down, but just accept them, they hand me the money and don’t ask for the change. I take the hanging meat off the hook and place it in a bag, they usually smile at me, saying thanks. That’s the extent of my night. Selling things and hiding behind the meat.

I like to stare off into the distance, looking into the apartments that are across the pavement. I think that they are overpopulated. The building stands fifty storeys high, looming above, the night coats it in darkness, like a blanket. Occasionally lights flick on and off, but one in particular, no matter what the time of day, she keeps the light on. She lives on the 4th floor, so I can see her perfectly no matter what time of the day. I find her so intriguing. I spend most of my time looking at her when I’m not serving the customers. She tends not to move from her house. I stand here most of the day and the night, not leaving the stall unless to sleep. I have not once seen her leave the building in the six months that I have worked here.

I see her sitting at her computer, the computer screen lighting up her face, a pale colour of cream. She faces out the window. I have counted the different smiles that she makes. The smirk, that creeps across her face, it is almost a frown but it’s not quite. The bopping, when she bangs her head to the music, the broad smile that fills her face, lighting up her eyes. The half smile, where her smile goes up and down at the same time. This is the one that she has when her phone rings and she does not want to pick it up. She sometimes has people come visit her. She takes a break from her computer, I know what she is doing. I can see from the shadow that the lamp makes. Her outline is plastered over the wall, intertwined with his. She performs unthought of things. I wish that the attention that she was paying him, she was paying to me.

The customers occasionally distract me from my thoughts about her, they want cats and dogs, that are hanging up on my stall, all dead. After they are gone I look up at her, again and watch her. Sometimes I wish that I was there, holding her in my arms, hugging her and keeping her close. The other market keepers have a fair idea what I look at, but they still ask what I stare at. They think that I stare at the old man that lives in the room beside her. It is wrong, he sits on his window sill looking at the young girls that walk by in the market. I wonder what it would be like to look down on everyone, to be somewhat anonymous. What do people look like from up there? Can he not see the beauty of the woman beside his window? I would be jealous if he was looking at her though. Does he know that the people down below can see him? That they know that he is a pervert? I think that he should go inside and pay his wife some attention, I’m sure that she has caught on to what he does all day.

It’s market day today, I’m busy cleaning up the mess that is around me, hooks lying everywhere, bags strewn across the floor, and flies buzzing around. They follow some of the customers around, like a bad smell. They don’t have to do any work, I was considering talking to the boss about getting someone else in to work, but it would take too long, would cost too much to train them and considering it is the coming up to the busy season we may not have time to train them. Although I shall see what he says.

We are running low on dogs, better get the boss to go catch some more, I think to myself. Next door tells me that I am very fetching and that I should not be working in this district, I should be up in the other part, being a high roller, making millions of dollars. I tell him that I am satisfied with my job and that I would not want to be doing anything else. He just shakes his head at me, and continues taking the eyeballs from the chickens.

Looking down, I see a small piece of wood under my skin, a small splinter, in the middle of my hand. It makes me think of her, and the way that she is a piece of wood in my mind, stuck there, painless but injecting thoughts into the surrounding nerve endings. There is a slight twitch if I move my hand, I guess that’s the way that my body tells me that there’s something wrong with me. I’m in love. Sometimes I wish that I could run up the stairs, kick her door down, pick her up and kiss her passionately on the lips, only breaking away for a breath of air, which will stream through her open window.

A customer walks up, snapping her fingers in my face, breaking me out of my daydream. I jump at the sudden interruption. She starts talking, complaining about the food and the smell, I nod my head, agreeing occasionally. Looking up, I see Her. She is walking by the wall, in the background, the customer’s voice is drowned out, she wears a long flowing dress, that effortlessly lingers over her body. Her round, pert bottom, her flat stomach, her small but shapely breasts, all of which are outlined by the dress. That hair, oh it makes me shake. It cascades over her shoulders and down her back. The curls intertwining with each other, making ringlets. She wears something shiny around her neck, I can’t see what it is, but I notice the light reflecting off it. The world seems to stop, or at least go in slow motion. Her sandal-covered feet make a pat-pat-pat sound, the market place is noisy, filled with screaming people, but it is all obscured by her footsteps. The woman in front of me is still talking, unaware of what just happened, the beauty. The weather, the prices of the surrounding places, the hindering shop keepers, all seem like good topics for her to discuss. It’s not really a discussion, I’m not actually responding, my head is too far up in the clouds to hear her ramble. She nears the corner of the building, just before I lose sight of her I see something silver fall to the ground. I click out of my daydreaming when she points to something above me and pulls out money. Taking her cash, I hand her the eyeless chicken, she starts asking for change, but the glare on my face stops her from wanting the change.

She tries to grab the money back, but I’m too quick for her and I move just in time. Snatching the bag she walks off in a huff. Silly woman, I mutter to myself. I hope that she does not come not come back. I don’t think that I would be able to handle her trying to talk my ear off. A deafening rumbling sound comes from around the corner. She just disappeared over there. A pain surges through my heart. I hope that she’s alright. I’m in a panic. Scurrying around throughout the shop. Fixing things, cleaning the floor, untangling hangers and shuffling my bare feet in the dirt. Looking up, I remember the shiny thing, it grabs my eye, jumping over the counter, I pick it up. It’s a pocket watch. Quite polished, looking into it I see my hair falling into my eyes, that are brown like mahogany, the freckles sprinkled over my nose and slight scar under my lip. Standing up, and looking around to see if she has noticed that she does not have to the metal watch, no one looks at me, or tries to claim it. I slip it into my pocket and walk around to the back of the counter, pretending as if nothing has happened. The yelling and bartering of the locals again fills the market place, it had stopped for a few seconds in awe of the loud rumbling sound. After losing interest the noise picks up again.

Sometimes I wish that I could go away from this place, to somewhere tropical, to just be able to sit on a beach. My feet spreading the sand between my toes. The sun beating down on my shoulders and legs. The slight tingling and burning, which gives me a warm feeling inside. And the bonus. Her. Beside me, looking into my eyes. Her hand in mine and our legs interlocked. I’m in heaven, the sun, no work and having her by my side. No one to have to answer to, no one to talk to and no one to have to pull down dogs, cats, pheasants and rabbits for. And not to forget - taking their money.

Wiping down the bench with a dirty rag, I think that it is not really going to clean it much, as it is just going to spread the germs. Oh well, it’s not my fault if people get sick. I will just blame my boss, he has a tendency to not cook the food enough. I keep telling that people could die, but he doesn’t seem to care. I genuinely care about the people that buy things from here, well not all of them, but most of them. I don’t want people to die from what I am selling them. I guess that I feel somewhat responsible…

I hear a soft noise, just over to my right, I’m not sure if I am imagining it. Slyly looking up, I see her. She has changed clothing again and is holding a bag. The wind gently blows her hair slightly to the left. She has donned a red short dress, creeping up just midway up her thigh. It’s gathered at one side with a clip. She walks with determination, her sandals replaced with black wedges, which elongate her legs. Instead of turning she keeps going straight towards me, her eyes focused on something behind me. I spin around, wondering what could have caught her eye.

There is nothing that she could be looking at, just a black sheet that hides the barrier between this stall from the one behind it. She keeps walking. A clop, clop, clopping sound resonates on the pavement. My heart is racing. I cough, hard. Inhaling deeply, I realise that I have been holding my breath. My head is spinning and there is a feeling of queasiness in my stomach. She is only a few steps away from me now. I take a deep breath and look her in the eyes. She stops at my counter and stares at me. The world seems to stop. Forever. The people in the background move very slowly, as if they are turtles on a ten kilometre race, coming to the finish line. She still stares at me, not moving. Two females, locking eyesight, I hope it never ends. Her mouth opens a little, a sound comes out. H-e-llo. She says hello to me!



Simone Healy 2008