Thursday, April 14, 2011

Prince Charming is a Liar - Heroes and Villains

Everyone has a story to tell. Every step you take is a sentence, every moment a paragraph, and every day a new chapter. Some stories last longer than others, but the ending is always unique. The best stories are the ones that keep you guessing - a twist ending that no one ever sees coming. Yes, everybody has one.

"Dayna! Dayna, you left your purse!" There came running Liza, the waitress from the diner she had just finished her early morning coffee at.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so scatter brained, not a great way to start the day, right?" She laughed half heartedly at her mistake and took the purse from out of Liza's hands.

"Sure you weren't just distracted, honey?" The middle aged waitress gestured in the direction of a man sitting on a bench across from the diner who was pretending to read the morning newspaper.

"That man's been watching you, Dayna. You can act like you haven't noticed, but I know you've been checking him out yourself."

"Come on, he is not watching me. Look, he's just reading the paper and minding his own business."

"I see things you don't, sweetie. Every time you look away, he's peeking up at you. It ain't just a coincidence that you only find him sitting on that bench reading his morning paper on the days you come around for a cup of coffee. You should go say something to him, girl!"

"Not happening...at least not today. I gotta run my niece to school, but maybe I'll have the guts Thursday morning after you come by the salon and let me get my hands on that hair of yours!"

"We'll see who cracks first!"

Dayna's painted red lips formed a wide grin as she hopped into her car and headed off to meet her niece. She lived only about seven blocks away from her sister's place and drove her niece, Clarissa, to school every Monday morning. She was half way up the stairs of the apartment complex when Jasmine and Clarissa came rushing down to meet her half way.

"Ima be late!" Jasmine spouted out dramatically as she pushed her daughter forward, gripping the girl's arms tightly so she wouldn't trip over her own feet.

"Well good morning to you too, Jazzy!"

"Thank the ever lovin' heavens you're here. I gotta stop by the store and buy mascara. I forgot I was all out." Jasmine bent down and gave her daughter a kiss on both cheeks, exaggerating the loud smacking sound on each one.

"I love you, baby, have a good day at school."

Dayna rolled her eyes playfully.

"You know, you don't need mascara."

Jasmine leaned in closer to her sister as if she didn't want Clarissa to hear what she was about to say.

"I do if I want to catch myself a man. God knows I could use someone around here to help me out with Crissy, since her real dad wasn't up for the job. She's going to be a teenager soon. If you remember the amount of stress I put mom through when I was that age, you should understand why I'm so desperate at this point."

"Hey, you know I'm always here."

Jasmine tilted her head slightly, her face formed into a mocking pout.

"Aww, so sweet. But you know what I mean.."

"I know, I know. I just think you're super beautiful with or without mascara."

Jasmine just shook her head, flashing a bright, genuine smile.

"I really gotta go. Love you."

She stood up to give her sister a thankful hug before waddling off to her car in a pair of red, 4 inch heels.

"Alright, you ready for school?"

"As ready as I'll ever be..."

The two headed back towards Dayna's car parked across the street.

"Mondays used to be my least favorite day when I was your age, so how about we get some ice cream when I pick you up later? You know, give us both something to look forward to."

"Hell yes!"

"Whoa, check you out using big girl words!"

The two shared a laugh together as the car slowly edged through traffic. Clarissa was quite a sharp 12-year-old with a gift for comedy. She always brought a smile to Dayna's face when her day was otherwise lacking anything to be happy about. After about 15 minutes, they reached their destination. As Dayna pulled up to the school, Clarissa sighed heavily.

"Come on, it's not that bad."

"It is when you have to deal with a dumb blonde named Penny who thinks she's some kind of goddess all pretty in pink every single day."

"Ah, I get it. Ya know, now is probably the time where I should give you some big lecture about being kind to everybody and turning the other cheek..."

Clarissa started to slam her head against the back of the car seat repeatedly, bored of hearing that same old spiel.

"she's just soooo annoying!"

"Hey, calm down. I was going to tell you that your grandmother used to tell your mom and I that life was like a great big story. She said every person in our lives was a character that played an important part."

"Yeah, well she'd be the villain."

"Yeah, for now. Trust me, you'll have plenty more and much worse villains introduced in your story, but you know what the rule always is with the bad guys?"

The middle schooler thought on the question for a moment before answering.

"They never win..?"

"Exactly."

Clarissa smiled wide and reached over to give her aunt a loving hug before hopping out of the car.

"Love you, girly. I'll see you after school!"

"Love you, too, aunt D.! Don't forget the ice cream!" The girl waved as she walked up the steps to the school, a large green backpack weighing her down. She was a bit small for her age, but then again, kids these days seem to come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Dayna paused for a moment, contemplating what she would do with the rest of her morning. She didn't have to be at the salon until Wednesday and she couldn't think of any other responsibilities she had for another 6 hours or so. It was such a beautiful, sunny Monday morning. The birds were chirping, the sound of echoing car horns were floating through the air as impatient business men and women forced their way through traffic. Yes, she decided to go home and do what she always does on her days off of all priorities...

...sleep.

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Author's note:

This is just the first chapter to what was originally meant to be a single short story. However, upon plotting the entire story out in my head, I realized that it needed to be lengthened a bit in order to really work as an interesting tale. All that you have just read above probably seems very ordinary and quite possibly on the verge of boring. I'm warning you, it will seem that way for a while. BUT if things go as planned and the story flows the way I imagine it all unfolding in my brain, you'll want to keep on trudging through the chapters. If the opposite occurs, well, I've already put this out there, so there's no turning back now.

1 comment:

  1. you better finish this one. I am gonna pretty ticked if you leave me hanging.

    ReplyDelete