She took another break from work. It was getting increasingly difficult for her to focus on anything. In mid May, her body was shivering beneath a thick coat. Her eyes hurt, her mouth was filled with blisters. None of this compared to the ordeal her mind was going through. Unanswered emails were piling up, deadlines were looming. Combined with a new (undesirable) turn of events in the friendship department, the protagonist knew that any more work would be impossible for the next few hours.
She considered wasting time in office so she could go dine with a friend later. But she could hear her bed beckoning her – come to me, my precious. And so, she chose, for once, to listen to her body, and give it the rest it so clearly desired. Alas, one can get a break from work by simply sending an email, but saints still spend a lifetime trying to understand how to get a break from their mind. So, our heroine continued to suffer, as she took the bus home.
It was a beautiful sunny day, but all she could focus on was, why me? Why is it so hard to find love, to get what I desire? How do others completely have their life in place, while mine feels like a scattered 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle?
The bus stopped, a lady entered with a boy in a stroller. He had some popcorn in his tiny hand, which he ignored, instead drinking in all that he saw around him. A few stops ahead, there came another girl in a stroller. Contrary to the boy, she was very absorbed in her doll’s affairs. The strollers were positioned next to each other, and the mothers took a small chat break. As the two bundles of cuteness glanced at each other, war sirens blew. Suddenly, the girl lost all interest in her best friend, and instead decided to attack her enemy’s food. Unfazed, the boy simply shifted it to his hand farther away from her, and began eating it with a vengeance (in his place, I would’ve done the same). The girl then tried to use her poor doll to beat him, arms outstretched, ready for victory. Blissfully unaware of the raging chaos in the world, these two carried on with the legendary Corny Pop Battle.
Even if Dolly won, was the popcorn even worth the effort? I’m sure her mother could’ve bought her a replica, if she asked. Did she really want the popcorn, or did Angry Young Man’s disinclination to share contribute to its attractiveness? After all, had she not been blissfully happy with her friend before he came along? Maybe she was just bored of her jigsaw puzzle being complete and beautiful for a long time, so she tore it down by herself. The harder the puzzle, the longer it would take to solve it, the greater the “reward” at the end.
Who won, the weary bystander wondered, as she left the bus. Her weary mind had traveled to strange alleys. Exhausted, she “napped” for 3 hours. In the comfort of her room, forgetting all else, she managed to be somewhat productive. What is life, after all, without a few ups and downs. The important thing is to find ups in the downs, I guess. As she passed by the mirror, the babies flit across her mind. She saw a small smile light up her face. The waning moon rose again.
Makeba 