diplomatic
New member
Chapter one.
If only she knew what waited for her in their new house, Sylvia Wood, would have wished to go there since the day she was born. However, the gift of the sight was not for this girl.
Sylvia wandered across the house. She kissed the walls and made sure that her father closed the water taps firmly. As she ambled down the wooden floored hall, she knew that this house would hunt her in her dreams for years to come. She did not want to leave it. In this house, she unwrapped her first Christmas present, and tasted her first apple pie. She could not imagine that after some hours she would be reading one of her books on another bed other than her velvet bed, for a moment, she thought of locking herself up in the bathroom and refusing to go with her father, but she knew that she needed him and he needed her.
Slowly, Sylvia moved down the stairs with her two arms gathered at her left side and her shoulders pulled up to carry her sack. After placing it beside the main door, she walked back to the kitchen. Inside, the yellow light of the lamp glistened over the purple walls. Beside the refrigerator, a pair of red, high heels stood against the tiled floor. Sylvia approached it and smiled to herself. She ran her fingers slowly over the smooth fabric of the shoes and images of her mother ran back into her head.
Two weeks ago, it was her funeral. Sylvia recalled the feeling of the acidic rain over her skin as she stood beside her father, watching her mother descending slowly into the ground. She wondered what it would be like down there, dark, filled with insects, dreary, but then she told herself. “She’s dead, she can’t feel anything.”
The rain stopped the moment the slender men finished filling the hole ,where her mother was buried, with mud. Sylvia held her father’s hand and kissed it. “mama told me before she died that one day I’ll follow her into a place better than here.”
Sylvia’s father, Mr Wood, nodded. “We’ll all follow her into this better place, but till then we must pray for her. She loved you.”
Mr. Wood kissed Sylvia on her forehead, and they walked back home.
After some minutes, Sylvia waited for her father beside his green land cruiser. She thought whether her father had found his favorite makril in the super market or not. Last year, when her mother remained in bed with her face pale and her eyes swollen from cancer, Mr. Wood lived on makril for nearly two weeks. Some nights, when Sylvia wandered around home, sleepless, she would find her father hiding behind the refrigerator door, emptying a makril pot with a fork.
Sylvia’s cheeks reddened from the sun’s heat. She decided to go into the car and turn on the air conditioner, but the moment her fingers curled upon the plastic doorknob, the rhythmic bell of a bike reverberated through the air. Sylvia knew the sound. The shrill voice of the bike’s bell.
Sylvia turned around as a smile took form over her thin, purple lips. A girl paddled over the bike.
“Ouch.” The bike scaled up a black stone and the girl on it flew high up in the air, her golden hair flowing all around her, and her green eyes widened with amazement.
“Judy…” Sylvia screamed as she ran towards the girl. “Are you ok?’
Sylvia ran her hands over Judy’s slender arm. “Your elbow, it’s wounded.”
Judy smiled at Sylvia and stood up, stroking her round, cherry face from the grains of sand. “Don’t worry it happens a lot.” Judy patted Sylvia on her right shoulder. “I just came to say good bye Sylvia.”
Sylvia turned her face to the ground and her shoulders drooped to her side. “I don’t want to leave. I want to remain here in this house; I want to see you everyday.”
Judy smiled again, and dipped her hand into her yellow skirt’s pocket. She tugged out a crumpled picture. “Here. Keep it with you.”
Sylvia smiled as her eyes ran over the picture. She sat at her desk in class with a strawberry jam sandwich sticking out of her mouth. Judy sat beside her, raising her head and laughing loud. Sylvia squeezed her head for some seconds trying to remember why was Judy laughing in the picture, but before she could get it, Judy came in with the answer. “Mrs. Jackson farted out in the middle of the class; it sounded like a bomb exploding on a twenty miles distance. I could not just help it. My laugh seemed so ridiculous that Elliot took a picture of me and distributed it all over the school. Hope you like it Sylvia. ”
Sylvia crunched forward trying to suppress a sudden laugh. “I love it Judy. I’ll never forget you.”
Sylvia approached Judy and after encircling her with her arms, she rested her head over Judy’s bony shoulder and hoped that she would never leave her. Like a flash of lightning, Sylvia recalled the days she spent with Judy, talking about boys on the tire swing and making snowmen before Christmas. She knew that after she will leave, she‘d recall these days with teary eyes. It was like a knife cutting slowly through her heart.
“Syl
If only she knew what waited for her in their new house, Sylvia Wood, would have wished to go there since the day she was born. However, the gift of the sight was not for this girl.
Sylvia wandered across the house. She kissed the walls and made sure that her father closed the water taps firmly. As she ambled down the wooden floored hall, she knew that this house would hunt her in her dreams for years to come. She did not want to leave it. In this house, she unwrapped her first Christmas present, and tasted her first apple pie. She could not imagine that after some hours she would be reading one of her books on another bed other than her velvet bed, for a moment, she thought of locking herself up in the bathroom and refusing to go with her father, but she knew that she needed him and he needed her.
Slowly, Sylvia moved down the stairs with her two arms gathered at her left side and her shoulders pulled up to carry her sack. After placing it beside the main door, she walked back to the kitchen. Inside, the yellow light of the lamp glistened over the purple walls. Beside the refrigerator, a pair of red, high heels stood against the tiled floor. Sylvia approached it and smiled to herself. She ran her fingers slowly over the smooth fabric of the shoes and images of her mother ran back into her head.
Two weeks ago, it was her funeral. Sylvia recalled the feeling of the acidic rain over her skin as she stood beside her father, watching her mother descending slowly into the ground. She wondered what it would be like down there, dark, filled with insects, dreary, but then she told herself. “She’s dead, she can’t feel anything.”
The rain stopped the moment the slender men finished filling the hole ,where her mother was buried, with mud. Sylvia held her father’s hand and kissed it. “mama told me before she died that one day I’ll follow her into a place better than here.”
Sylvia’s father, Mr Wood, nodded. “We’ll all follow her into this better place, but till then we must pray for her. She loved you.”
Mr. Wood kissed Sylvia on her forehead, and they walked back home.
After some minutes, Sylvia waited for her father beside his green land cruiser. She thought whether her father had found his favorite makril in the super market or not. Last year, when her mother remained in bed with her face pale and her eyes swollen from cancer, Mr. Wood lived on makril for nearly two weeks. Some nights, when Sylvia wandered around home, sleepless, she would find her father hiding behind the refrigerator door, emptying a makril pot with a fork.
Sylvia’s cheeks reddened from the sun’s heat. She decided to go into the car and turn on the air conditioner, but the moment her fingers curled upon the plastic doorknob, the rhythmic bell of a bike reverberated through the air. Sylvia knew the sound. The shrill voice of the bike’s bell.
Sylvia turned around as a smile took form over her thin, purple lips. A girl paddled over the bike.
“Ouch.” The bike scaled up a black stone and the girl on it flew high up in the air, her golden hair flowing all around her, and her green eyes widened with amazement.
“Judy…” Sylvia screamed as she ran towards the girl. “Are you ok?’
Sylvia ran her hands over Judy’s slender arm. “Your elbow, it’s wounded.”
Judy smiled at Sylvia and stood up, stroking her round, cherry face from the grains of sand. “Don’t worry it happens a lot.” Judy patted Sylvia on her right shoulder. “I just came to say good bye Sylvia.”
Sylvia turned her face to the ground and her shoulders drooped to her side. “I don’t want to leave. I want to remain here in this house; I want to see you everyday.”
Judy smiled again, and dipped her hand into her yellow skirt’s pocket. She tugged out a crumpled picture. “Here. Keep it with you.”
Sylvia smiled as her eyes ran over the picture. She sat at her desk in class with a strawberry jam sandwich sticking out of her mouth. Judy sat beside her, raising her head and laughing loud. Sylvia squeezed her head for some seconds trying to remember why was Judy laughing in the picture, but before she could get it, Judy came in with the answer. “Mrs. Jackson farted out in the middle of the class; it sounded like a bomb exploding on a twenty miles distance. I could not just help it. My laugh seemed so ridiculous that Elliot took a picture of me and distributed it all over the school. Hope you like it Sylvia. ”
Sylvia crunched forward trying to suppress a sudden laugh. “I love it Judy. I’ll never forget you.”
Sylvia approached Judy and after encircling her with her arms, she rested her head over Judy’s bony shoulder and hoped that she would never leave her. Like a flash of lightning, Sylvia recalled the days she spent with Judy, talking about boys on the tire swing and making snowmen before Christmas. She knew that after she will leave, she‘d recall these days with teary eyes. It was like a knife cutting slowly through her heart.
“Syl