In the prospect of brooding secretly, she sat in a foreign cafe.
Somewhere near her house due to lack of transportation and to think while walking.
She choose a seat near the window, mainly to watch pediatricians, and to daze off.
There was no one she knew in the cafe, a delicate place where few lurked, and stayed.
She thought of her life, about how complicated it is in general,and how she rarely prayed.
The off the balance of fear and hope in her life, and the uncontrollable urge to break free.
She wondered why happiness was evanescent, why love didn’t last, and why her emotions at times were unbearable.
The server brought her coffee, studied her comely features, and vanished.
She wondered why did life take people on the path of unknown, about the universality of the truth and why there wasnt an elixir for trust.
Why god gives people’s test, why some challenges are not worth the knowledge for later on in life, and as to why can’t pain can be self inflicted.
Above all, she wondered why people come in and out of her life, why people do wrong more often then good, and why she’s not like others.
I ended up finishing, “Nine Stories” by J.D. Salinger, and I enjoyed it. It took longer than expected, due to schoolwork, and lack of effort to read. His writing style is excellent, his craft is admirable, and great to read. Particularly, I loved an exceptional amount of stories in this book, most inspired me to write, and some will always be remembered.
- A perfect day for bananafish
- The laughing man
- For Esme- with Love and Squalor
- De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period
- Teddy
I found quotes that I also wanted to share as well.
- ” The trouble is”, Teddy said, “Most people want to see things the way they are, they don’t even want to stop getting born and dying all the time, they just want new bodies all the time, instead of stopping and staying with god, where it’s nice”. He reflected. Found in “Teddy”.
“The most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid”. Found in ” De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period”.
There once was a girl by the name of Beverley. Her mother didn’t conscientiously pick out her name. If she did, she would’ve chosen one with a more significant meaning. Her hair was white as snow which was oddly strange since she wasn’t the age to acquire such characteristics. She was as tall as a giant. Even though her stature was rather big, her fingers and toes remained delicate. She appeared gaunt though she ate quite a lot.
The first-born for her imperial mother, so naturally, her mother enjoyed her the minute she was born. She couldn’t figure out why her daughter began to grow so rapidly, but she wasn’t desperate either to find out how to stop this brisk growth. Rebecca, who was remembered to be materialistic since birth, didn’t want to have children. Her selfish lifestyle continued to get the best of her until her mother decided to cut her off the families’ expenses. It was her mother’s desire to see her daughter realize the true importance of life and fortunately bear a child so the family could expand. Once, disconnected from a life that was once native to her, she moved to a tiny cottage in Welcksburg, where the people were less fortunate than her family, but wasn’t on the verge of poverty. There, she met a tiny man named Timmy, who sells bread at the market one mile away from their cottage. A modest man, who didn’t acknowledge his teeny height at all, and enjoyed spending any time he could with his family. Though, he always regarded himself as a person that doesn’t keep secrets, especially from his love ones, there was a secret too big to tell. He lived day to day with this secret in his pocket, like a keepsake, but with much more sentiment. There wasn’t a day that passed where guilt filtrates through his blood. The guilt, though, wasn’t enough to get him to speak up. Beverley continued to grow, sometimes it felt like she was budding every day, and her hair started to come down her long back. She was more than eight feet tall, and she wasn’t able to go to school because she couldn’t fit in the doorway. Her instructor came to her house instead, and her father built custom made items like her bed. Constantly, she complained about how irregular she was, and at times she couldn’t hold back her endless tears. At times, her vision was so bleary from crying, that she couldn’t even make out who was trying to encourage her that she is beautiful. Usually, it was her father, who usually claimed that her insecurities made him ache, more than she could ever know. Sometimes, he wished he could tell her, that he too was irregular. He wanted her to see that she wasn’t a passerby, she wasn’t someone that people ignore on a regular basis. She was precious, and more importantly beautiful. She never heard her father’s words lucidly though, because her sobs drowned out his words of encouragement. Her mother couldn’t bear looking at her daughter suffer from her lack of self confidence, instead she sobbed as well in a different room. Rebecca, suffered from depression because of her remembrance of her previous life, and she couldn’t tend to her daughter’s need. Beverley desperately wanted help for her height, she thought that aesthetics could shape her future, unfortunately she was too naïve to know, that it’s deep within that makes people who they are. She went to every fairy that she ever saw. Each one gave her the answer that she dread, there was nothing they could possibly do, each time she went home with lost hope. She told her father the news continuously, and his heart sank more. He couldn’t even think of holding this secret any more. One night, while his daughter was nestled in her large bed, he went to her room unease. He sat on her bed anxiously.
Curiously, she asked what was wrong, he replied with a huff.
“I’m a fairy, Bev, if I wanted to, I could grant your wish”
His daughter, jumped on the bed happily, finally someone who could help overcome her issue.
“But, daddy, you’re a man, fairies are usually girls”
He laughed at this statement, that was the initial reaction he received, when he told his parents about his ways.
“ I know, but I could prove it”
In a instant, he turned her piggy banks into a pot of gold.
His daughter, who didn’t know what to do with herself, lied on her bed,
“But, if you could such a thing, why do you work?”
“ I could only grant one wish a year honey, usually I grant your grandmother a wish”
His daughter sighed, and asked him did he use up his wish this year. Surprisingly, he shook his head no.
She jumped up and down again, this time with more anticipation than before, and she kissed her father on the cheeks.
“ So you can fix me daddy!”
“Fix you?”
“Yes, I won’t have to be so big with white fluffy hair anymore”
Her father sighed this time. He didn’t want his daughter to change. He liked her height and her hair, he knew he was being selfish but he couldn’t help living vicariously through her.
More than anything, he wanted her to value her height, he wanted her to see that she was magnificent regardless of her tallness. She had more spunk than anyone that he knew. He was going to tell her this, but when he decided to, he saw a hint of happiness in her eyes. It was the first time he saw her so content.
“Fine, I could help you” He said unwillingly. He got up and instantly changed her.
She was now the size of an average six year old. She twirled around for her father to see, and then hugged him. He wasn’t content. Later, he told his wife about his majestic ways, and about Beverley. His wife was more excited than ever. She couldn’t wait to see her daughter so exuberant.
Everyone in their small community noticed the change too. Beverley was allowed back in school and finally people talked to her without looking at her height.
Beverley was very happy with her new self that she didn’t even noticed herself changing internally. She became more picky as to who her friends were ,and more importantly, her closeness with her father disappeared. She didn’t need him to fill the void of a friend, she clearly had what she always wanted.
Needless to say, her transformation got the best of her and she was aware. She ignored her new unpleasant ways though and continued on with her new life. It wasn’t until she was in her room one afternoon from school, when she noticed a medallion that her father once gave her. He took his earnings from his childhood and bought her it. It had a heart in it and her name encrusted on it. Instantly, she began to cry, she missed the relationship that she once had with her father. He was not only her best friend, he also loved her dearly even when she was tall. She noticed that people now talked to her because she wasn’t different anymore. They didn’t care for her when she was excessively big.
Her sobs started to build up until she couldn’t hold it any longer. Once it started, she couldn’t control them any longer. Once her father heard her cry, he raced to her room, he couldn’t possibly see why she was crying.
“Father, I want to change back” She said through her sobs.
Timmy shook his head and gave her a sly smile.
“I’m serious, dad, I want to be me again!” She said with more frustration than before.
This time, he laughed.
“What’s so funny”
“I lied when I told you that I could only grant one wish”.
Her sobs was on hold.
“I wanted you to see that when you change yourself for everyone else, you lose yourself in the long run. I love you for who you are, Bev, your special.”
She shook her head, and smiled. She finally heard what he was saying to her before.
He got up from her bed once again, and use his wand for something he truly wanted.
Rapidly, her legs started to branch out and her hair started to transform back to it’s original state.
Instantly, she bent down and hugged her tiny father.
For once, in her life, she loved herself.
-Amanda Lee
