A Last Change

SOL #30

March 31, 2009

A Last Change

I strode out of the music room and into the Wolf Room. The smell of food waft throughout the room. I paced around the chairs and tables, not touching them. I looked out the window; a janitor leaned against the wall, staring at the trees out side. He was in his own world; the look that was placed on his face said everything. It was relaxed; it was like he was staring at a butterfly, like staring at something delicate and small. It was like he was seeing something no one else could see, an invisible treasure.

There was a gasp. A quick and sharp gasp that slashed through my thoughts like a knife through butter. The air was let go with a yelp and was replaced by another sharp gasp. I didn’t know were it came from or who had made it. I walked a little further. There he was, cringed into an uncomfortable position. He was on his knees, his arms wrapped around his stomach. His face red and tears slithering down his cheek. Brian lifted his dark eyes to gaze at me, his pained breathing echoing in my head.

“I…have…to…vomit…It hurts!” He said in between gasps. I just stared. This was Brian, the boy who annoyed me, the one that made fun of me for hanging out with boys instead of girls, and the one that I couldn’t stand in class. I remember that once, when he teased with the whole fact that my country’s president was causing a big commotion on the news.

“Hey! Ines! Are you with Chaves or Hitler?” he asked, containing his laugh with little success.

“None of your business.” I snapped back.

“”Oh, so you’re with Chaves? Ok!” He said laughing, he ran away, leaving me with my jaw open, but no words coming out.

I had always wanted to see him like that; I wanted to see him in pain for once, or maybe crying. That way I could prove that he wasn’t as manly as he claimed to be. I wanted to laugh; I wanted to laugh at him. I wanted to tell him he wasn’t so good anymore, that he was just like the rest of us. I wanted to laugh at the boy that had irritated me, the one that made my temper rise everyday. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t laugh. I would be so wicked, so wrong, so…not me. I couldn’t even move, I didn’t know what to do, should I help him up, or should I call a teacher? I couldn’t but feel bad for him. Feel bad for the fact that he was in pain. That he was for the first time without the same kind of energy. The energy that made him Brian.

“What’s going on here?” I grave voice said behind me. I didn’t but instinctively steal a glance from Mrs. Walker and then look back at Brian as Mrs. Walker came our way.

“He’s...going to throw up.” I whispered, like if I didn’t intend to let Mrs. Walker hear me.

“Well then, vomit in the bathroom.” She ordered. Brian stood up, his legs wobbling; he made his way to the bathroom. I walked, I don’t know why. I just see that I’m moving, I didn’t have any control over my legs. The image of Brian on the floor crying just kept on coming to me, I couldn’t push it away. I walked upstairs, my eyes locked on the floor. I wouldn’t be able to treat Brian the same anymore.

Sorry

I´m sorry to say to the readers and followers of this blog that today I will not post my slice of life. Today, the first person I met in Panama died. I won´t write how or where or anything else. He just died. And I hope he rests in peace. I´m sorry.

Rachmaninov
( for today, a sad author)

Abgail Adams

SOL# 28

March 29, 2009

Women’s quote:

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.

I choose this quote because it reflects a reality that all of us should face and try to change.

I think this quote means that people are always complaining about things and saying how bad things are, but they never take action to change whatever it is that is bothering them.

Abigail Adams
Wife of John Adams (1744 - 1818)

Band

SOL# 27

March 28, 2009

Day in a Sentence: A Band

The drum gave the beat, the piano a little contrast of sound, and the guitar had the melody as we played our song; we knew the band was almost complete.

Couplet: Different

SOL# 26

March 27, 2009

Couplet

Something I think people don’t understand very well,

Is that everyone is different, believe me, I can tell.

Surprise

SOL #24

March 25, 2009

Surprise

“Hello?” Mathieu’s polished voice answered,

“Hi Mathieu!” My broken violin voice yelled,

“Oh, hi Ines.” He replied.

“How are you?” I asked,

“Bob.” He said. He cracked up.

“Emily.” I responded in a bored tone.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…*gasp*…Ok…what is it?” he replied.

“Tomorrow you’re in for a big surprise!” I yelled excitedly.

“You let your hair grow long!” He asked,

“How the heck am I supposed to do that?” I said in a ‘Duh!’ tone.

“You got a new book!”

“No.”

“You got a new series!”

“No.”

“Oh, come on! Just tell me!” Boy, he doesn’t get what a surprise means.

“I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise!” I pointed out

“But if you tell me it will be cool, and when you show me it will be cooler!” He pressed,

“Nope, sorry Mathieu. Tomorrow you’ll see.” I said,

“But…but…” He blabbered on,

“Shhhh! No. I’ll give you a clue; it starts with a ‘B’. Good-bye Mathieu.”

“But Ines–” I hung up. I flashed a smile at the car mirror…he’d be surprised.

Grenade

SOL #23

March 24, 2009

Grenade

The sun was shinning today, – at least in this part of the city – and it was my favorite kind of sun light, cold sun light. Not the sun light that made your eyes squint so much that you can barely see and the muscles around your eyes start to hurt and that the moment you go outside, your sweating. No, this was the sunlight that shinned and like if you were in a field of flowers, not like if you were under a hot lamp.

“Nice day, right?” My dad said,

“Yeah.” I murmured back.

My head was filled up with the music of the piano concert I had heard millions of times. And as always, my dad had it playing the moment I got into the car. I stared up at the palm trees; it reminded me of that poem my dad had read to me. I remember his words clearly:

When you come back, the evening wind will amuse itself, combing palm trees.

It was a beautiful poem.

We must have been entering the gates to the parking lot. I saw the little yellow light flash on and off as the gates opened. We’re driving into the parking lot when, BAM!! A booming sound shakes the car; 5 thoughts come to me at once…

“Their attacking…run!”…

“What did they throw!? Is dangerous?”…

“Careful Ines, you don’t know what that was.”…

“Tell your dad, you need to get out of the car.”…

“Why us!? What did we do?!”…

An oval-like, black thing rolled down the car’s front window. Then all the thoughts get turned into one. Grenade. Then, I forget how to scream, I forget how to move, I’m just waiting for the big BOOM that will kill me in approximately 3 seconds. Then, everything is black. I heard my dad’s low, throaty voice laughing. Then another one, Estefania’s – my neighbor –gorgeous, incomparable voice was laughing. This was heaven? It must be. Maybe next, I would hear Laura’s soft and harmonic voice, or Mariana’s flawless voice, or maybe Gustavo Andres’s hoarse and deep voice. Or then I would hear Mathieu’s polished voice, or Mehr’s ravishing voice. And then last of all I would hear the most pleasant of all, Paulina’s radiant, stunning voice that I would never forget. My voice was like a violin, it could sound pretty if it was played right.

But then there was pain, I couldn’t be dead and have pain…could I? My eyes were hurting; I noticed a pressure on them. My hands were pressing onto them; I pulled them away slowly, as if they were glued there. I got out of the car; Estefania was with her dog, Bambi, on a blue leash, she was staring at something, I gazed at my dad and saw that he was looking at the same thing. The grenade. I was about to shout, “Look out!” or, “It’s gonna blow!” or something around those lines. Then I saw it closely, I saw the grenade. But, since when do grenades have a green and red color... Oh, right. I started to laugh, too. Standing in front of us, was a green and red mango that had fallen from a tree…LOL (laugh out loud).

No Lights

SOL #22

March 23, 2009

No Lights

I picked up my back pack and strolled downstairs. As I came near the last floor, I could hear the buzz of kids talking in the Lunch Room. I set my back-pack on the floor and wheeled it into the dark room that was inhabited by chattering shadows that stood leaning against the walls and tables with big back-packs draped from their backs. I sat down at the seat I had sat at in lunch. I pulled out a folder and started drawing on a blank piece of paper.

“Hi Ines!” Mehr called from the room’s door.

“Hello, Mehr.” I muttered. She sat down in front of me. I was happy to see her, but I couldn’t really see her at all in the darkness, students had been dismissed early because the lights had gone out all morning. 4 hours with no electricity, I had wished for that this morning. But I never expected it to come true.

“Bus number 9 and 8, people that ride on busses 9 and 8 come forward!” Mrs. Boatwright called,

“Bye Mehr.” I said softly, giving her a small smile.

“Bye Ines, see you tomorrow.” She answered with a big grin on her face. I turned back to the paper, I drew the dress that hung from the girls shoulders, and I added a couple of shades. I was so concentrated on the paper that about a 95% of the kids had left already and I didn’t notice until they called my name.

“Ines!” Mrs. Tuchi’s voice roared across the room. I slid the paper back into the folder and stood up. My dad waited next to the door. I hugged him,

“Why so early?” he asked me,

“Good question.” I muttered.

Energy

SOL #21

March 22, 2009

Energy

I put down the magazine I had asked my dad to buy me; it had an interesting article about global warming and that help starts in our very houses. I thought a second about it.

¨We waste that much energy?” I doubted. I stood up from my bed to turn the lights off when I saw the fan. I stared at it for a second. Then it struck me. That line in the text, “That night we opened the windows to let the wind in and turned the air conditioning off.” It said. I knew that opening the window would mean dinner time for mosquitoes. But, the fan…I turned the fan on and turned the air conditioning off, I turned the lights off and stumbled towards my bed. I lay there thinking if it would make any difference at all. I will make a difference. You did the right thing. I thought.

An epiphany struck me…School. All that air conditioning. What a waste! I then wished. I wished that the air would breakdown tomorrow. I wished that the energy wouldn’t have to be used on something that wasn’t completely necessary. It wouldn’t hurt anybody…would it?

Numbers

SOL #20

Numbers

March 22, 2009

“Ok, then. Your numbers have to add up to 30.” Laura’s soft, harmonic voice instructed. Everybody started to count the numbers on the little plastic cards that lay in front of them.

“Wait, the numbers on the cards or the number of cards?” Gustavo Andres asked in his low, hoarse voice.

“Well, obviously the numbers on…” Laura trailed off as she stared at the game manual with a confused face.

“I don’t get it.” Joana said in her silvery, beautiful, jingle-bell voice.

“Laura, I don’t get a thing.” I complained, my voice sounding like a squeaky, broken violin compared to theirs.

“Do you think I do?” she snapped. “Ok, let’s see. You break a ladder like this, if there is a 3, a 4, and a 5, if you add a 4 between the 3 and the 4…no, sorry. You put the 4 between the first 4 and the 5… or maybe.” She looked down at the cards facing her. We all stared. “Agh! Who the hell gives a game this complicated to a 7-year-old?” She complained.

“Smila did.” Joana accused.

“I’m not going to do this; it’s too complicated for me! And I’m the oldest here!” Laura whined, tossing the paper manual at the wall. It made a slapping noise as it hit it and slid down to the floor.

“Any ideas of what we could do now?” Gustavo Andres moaned.

“Oh! Uh, uh, uh! Me! I know!!” I screamed, waving my hand in the air.

“Yeah? Ines?” Laura whispered, annoyed.

“Let’s play Gold Fish!” I offered.

“Is it less complicated than that?” She said, jamming a thin finger at the paper manual that lay on the floor.

“Much easier.” I confirmed.

“Agreed, we’re playing Cold Dish!” She exclaimed.

“Gold Fish.” I corrected.

“Whatever.” She said, ignoring me. We spent the rest of the evening playing Gold Fish – or in Laura’s word, Cold Dish – until it was time to leave. I have to say, it was pretty fun!

SOL #19
Day in a Sentence: Tennis Competition
March 20, 09

My opponent and me hit the ball from one side to another, so many rules the tennis game, but one goal; victory.

Hurry Up

SOL #18

Hurry Up

March 19, 09

“Ines, hurry up! You’re going to be late!” My father commanded,

“Well guess what! Since today is Thursday, and Thursday is an unnecessary day because six days are enough. I say I’m NOT going to school today! I told you my nose is really runny and I have a throat and head ache!” I complained. Though that didn’t really work because about ten minutes later I was getting dressed anyway. I really had no problem going to school, but I really didn’t think it was fair to the other kids if my little sickness was contagious.

My food was – as always – eggs and arepa. (Arepa: Popular Venezuelan food that is like a tortilla but maid of corn.) But there wasn’t any orange juice, so I got really thirsty and had to make it to school with water. Then, my dad told me that on Friday we were going to Mathieu’s mother’s party. That would have made my day… if it were Friday. This day is getting annoying, I thought. Then when we got in the car, the annoying, stinky smell that had been sitting around in the car for months was finally gone! My dad had washed the car! (Correction: he told someone else to wash it.) But then, my dad put on a piano concert. I love piano concerts of any kind, I thought they were beautiful. But, from the moment I got assigned a piano concert, my dad didn’t let me hear any other music. So everyday it was the same concert over and over again.

“DAD! Not the concert!” I whined,

“Valentina said you had to hear it all the time.” He insisted. Valentina was my Russian, severe, piano teacher.

“Dad, she didn’t mean ALL the time.” I mumbled,

“Oh yes she did. Want me to call her and ask?” he asked.

“NO!!” screamed, he looked at me, startled, “I mean, no! I got it.” I said softer.

When we got to school, I was able to relax, but I knew that all that would be after me again, tomorrow.

Hot Wax

SOL #17

Hot Wax

March 18, 09

“Laura , you agree to let Ines inherit all you green, brown, and blue possessions along with the t-shirts and pants that she wishes to take?” Mariana requested thoroughly,

“Yes.” Laura agreed, she sounded as if she were in pain.

“Laura , you agree to let Marian inherit all you red, pink, and yellow possessions along with the mini-skirts and tank-tops that she wishes to take?” I asked demandingly,

“Yes.” She approved, now sounding more like panic.

“Laura,” I asked concerned,

“Yeah?” She answered, her voice shaky.

“I know this will sound corny. But I…I…” I said hesitantly,

“Oh, just spit it out! I’m dieing anyway!” She commanded, I took a deep breath.

“I just think you’re really brave in doing this when you don’t know if it’s going to work.” I replied, “I really hope it does.”

“It’s ready,” Mariana announced, Laura took a deep breath. “We can still turn around.” Mariana whispered.

“No, you know I have to do this, it’s my only hope.” She pointed out. Then she a sucked in a jumbo-sized load of air and held it. Mariana reassured her hands on the dry material… Riiiiiiiip!!!! …The sound was piercing; it said PAIN in big bold letters. But the noise that followed that one was even more agonizing, Laura’s scream.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” her scream penetrating that air around us. Next, Mariana and I were laughing, Laura – after all the pain – was crying a loud sob. Mariana held up the thick layer of dried-up wax that was contaminated by Laura’s little hairs. Laura’s tan face was now violet and a couple of tears ran down her cheeks.

“You think it’ll work?” Mariana doubted,

“IT BETTER! If that boy doesn’t notice me when I go to school tomorrow, I’ll choke him in lunch!” She screamed out.

“That was what this was all about? Impressing a boy?!” I demanded, pointing at the piece of dried wax,

“What? He’s hot!” Laura answered.

“Crazy, isn’t she?” Mariana teased,

“Laura, no offence but. You’re giving me a bad example of what to do with my life when I’m 13.” I said in a shame-on-you voice. She rolled her eyes.

“When you turn 13, you’ll understand.” She said, defending herself.

“You said that same thing we were 11 and you were 12. And Ines still didn’t get you when she turned 12.” Mariana retorted.

“Well, what ever. We’ll see if he likes it or not.” Laura muttered.

“Oh, come on! Give us a smile! I’ll bet he’ll love it!” Mariana optimized. Those are my friends, I thought.

The Black Monster

SOL #15

The Black Monster

March 16, 2009

“What’s that!?” I asked the tennis coach fearfully. A giant blanket of black smoke rose over the horizon. The beautiful, blue sky drowned in the dark sea of smoke that elevated its self with no respite. I was so concentrated on the black monster that I forgot to hold on to my tennis racket and was startled when it hit the ground making a sharp metallic sound.

There was a sound the monster made, too. It was a crackling and popping sound, the sound of the warm fireplace that once upon a time warmed up a house on a chili December in the north. But in Panama, this sound wasn’t comforting, it wasn’t the second most delightful thing other that granny’s gingerbread cookies when it snows outside. It was the sound of fire that was burning something that wasn’t meant for burning. Something that couldn’t move by it’s own will, but something that might enjoy the evening wind as it brushed through its leaves with warm and soothing fingers. Something that might enjoy when the rain ran down its body and danced at the points of its leaves until the water drops gave up and dripped to the waiting ground. The fire was burning some of the only things that couldn’t save themselves from it, the trees.

No! I thought. Who put fire on? Why aren’t the firemen there? Questions swarmed around my head, but they fled around one word, why? Why did people burn trees for no reason? Why weren’t the firemen there yet? And why did everybody take it so calmly, as if it happened every day? My nose thrills fled, I picked up my racket, and the coach ignored the monster that hovered on top of us. He threw me a tennis ball, my mind wasn’t clear; I flung the racket, the ball shoot over the 10 meter fence. A woman – twenty-two years old or so – jumped to the side as the ball bounced with a Pam! On the exact place where she was standing.

“Home Run.” My coach mumbled. I little black thing landed lightly on the tip of my nose, I touched at it dissolved into black dust. I stared at the dark dust that fell on the ground, then I noticed another one, and another, another and…the next thing I know the whole sky is full of the little ashes.

“What are these?” I demanded at him.

“Oh, those are…” he muttered a word; I stared in disbelief at him. They were used to them, so used to them they even gave them a name?! How could they do that? Just ignore and let it happen all the time? I was stupid! No, wrong word, it was ignorant! Instead of giving it a name they could try to stop it or at least complain or…My thought was interrupted by a bitter, powdery taste in my throat.

“Agh!!!!*Gasp* *Wheeze* *Cough, cough* *Spit*” I squeaked out noises that should come out of a person drowning on a piece of bone or something. I fell on the floor cupping my neck in my arms. Putui! Gasp! I managed to spit out whatever was in my throat and breathe. I had breathed in one of those stupid ashes and almost killed myself. When I kept my eyes closed, but the red color the sun made when it beamed on top my eyelids disappeared, I saw darkness, and voices. I couldn’t make it. I’m dead! I thought. I lay motionless thinking that this wasn’t how I imagined death.

“Esta Muerta? Is she dead?” A boy’s voice whispered in a scared voice,

“Que pritty! Un cadáver! Cool! A corpse!” Another boy said amazed,

“Aunque este muerta, no es algo de que alegrarse! Que le diremos al papa? Even if she’s dead it doesn’t mean we should be happy! What are we going to tell her father?” I heard my coach said,

“Y si la metemos en la parte de atrás del carro? And what if we put her in a car trunk?” The amazed boy said.

“Si eres bruto, no? Cuanto crees que le durara al papa a encontrarla? You sure are stupid, huh? How much time do you think it would take her dad to find her?” the scared boy said. Then I knew I wasn’t dead. I felt a tickle in my throat and coughed a couple time.

“Esta viva! Pero se esta ahogando! Rápido! Alexis! Dale reparación de boca a boca! She’s alive! But she’s drowning! Quickly! Alexis! Give her mouth to mouth respiration!” The anxious boy said. No! I thought, I’m not going to let a strange do that to me! I scrambled and sat up. The anxious boy screamed. The scared one now looked t me with relieved. I didn’t know weather it was because I was alive or if he was happy he didn’t apply mouth to mouth respiration on me. I looked at the anxious boy with piercing eyes. He backed off automatically. But what P.O.’ed me the most was that the black monster was still up in the sky, and the ashes were still falling down. Ok, I thought, this is officially the deadliest, health harassing, most annoying contamination I’ve EVER seen.

Hanging

S.O.L #12

Hanging

March 13, 2009

“Ines!” My dad called,

“Yeah?” I answered,

“Did you practice piano?” He interrogated, I rolled my eyes,

“Yes” I answered in a bored tone,

“Take the dog to do his needs?”

“Done.”

“Call the piano teacher?”

“Finished.”

“Do your Slice Of Life thingy?”

“Completed.”

“And did you…” I cut him off,

“Yeah! Dad, I did the science report!” I whined.

“Ok then, remember not to go sleep too late! I can’t be reminding you things all the time! ” He finished,

“Okay dad, I got it.” I mumbled. I slipped into my pajamas and slid into bed. Finally, I thought, I get to read! The best time of the day! I started a bit before the part where I stopped. I sunk into the book, seeing all of the characters, feeling the same way they did: stressed, happy, sad, and jealous. I was in the critical part now in the book, I read;

The words sent a warm shiver down my spine. The little nudger fluttered inside me.

This is getting good! I thought.

“Who are you calling now?” I asked as he put the phone back to his ear,

“The airport, we’re going…”

The lights flickered and then the world went dark.

“No,” I whispered, “NO!” I screamed, the invisible book shaking in my dark hands. I couldn’t see anything around me.

“Ines!” I heard my dad open the door, “Why did you scream!?” He asked anxiously,

“I…the book…Bella is…I don’t…I NEED TO READ THE REST!” I blurred out. He sighed. Why do books always leave me hanging!?

Lost

SOL #14

Lost

March 15, 09

The thought shook my head. She was lost.
“Where’s Joana?” Anita asked in a too-loud voice.
“I’ll look for her; I have your cell phone number!” I offered, Anita nodded, her face scanning the whole store with horror. I ran. I ran to the nearest cashier I could find.
“Please! Call this name on the phone!” I told the woman in front of the cash register. She looked at me and rolled her eyes.
“Kristina!” She called. A woman with dark red hair walked over to her. The chatted, I thought it was about Joana, I leaned closer.
“I know, that guy in the furniture section is so hot! I mean, he has six pack and all!” Kristina whispered anxiously.
“What are you waiting!?” I screamed, startling them. “She could be kidnapped! Call her!” I was hysteric, I wouldn’t stand loosing Joana, and she was so small and so beautiful: her straight golden with copper hair, her cinnamon eyes, her pale skin, and her beautiful little voice that sounded like silver jingle bells. I was at the edge of crying. Kristina was trying not to laugh, like the rest of the people there. Then I exploded, like a bag of flower that had been filled up too much and had been carried so long, it finally ripped and let the flower out into a whirling white disaster. I started to cry,
“You miserable inconsiderated people! I hope you all die or lose a limb! And if anything happens to Joana! I hope the same thing happens to you!” I screamed. I walked away, not minding to look bag. But I couldn’t hear anything behind me, not even whispers. I walked further and dried my tears with my sleeves. Then I saw her, Joana, she was holding Anita’s hand, crying. I ran to her. Mariana – Joana’s sister – took her by the arm and pulled her away.
“What happened?” I asked Anita,
“She tried to get to the bathroom alone, but she got so scared she peed in her pants.” Anita sighed. I imagined all the people back at the cashier crying and with big dark spots on their pants. I made my giggle. But Joana was safe, that was all that mattered to me.

Laughter

SOL #13

Laughter

March 14, 09

“And then the guy said…” Mathieu started, Gaby and I stared at him with wide smiles on our faces. He pressed him lips together into a thin line, containing his laughter. He couldn’t. He pinched his nose with his index finger and his thumb, his face went red and his mouth widened into a too-big smile and his eyes stretched like the eyes of an Asian person. He looked like his face was made of rubber and someone was pulling him by his nose. Gaby and I looked at each other and then burst laughing. We laughed and laughed. It was a warm feeling all over my body. We laughed until we were crying. Then, all of the sudden that warm feeling concentrated somewhere else in my body. That feeling – the one that I felt when I was laughing – was somewhere else.

“Oh!” I gasped; Mathieu and Gaby looked at me. “Mathieu! Or:

• I spilled water on my pants, or
• I drooled on my pants, or
• I cried so hard my tears wet my pants or…”

Snap! I thought. I jumped out of my seat and ran into the bathroom; I slid my shorts and underwear quickly and sat on the toilet. I did you-know-what and sighed. I looked down. No! I thought. There was a knock on the door.

“Ines! Are you OK?” Gaby asked outside of the bathroom in a worried tone.

“Uh, yeah. Just one thing.” I called back.

“Yeah?” She questioned,

“Would you happen to have an underwear that fits me?” I asked,

“Sure…but why?” She whispered,

“Well, I think I laughed so hard I peed in my pants.” I whispered trying to not let Mathieu hear. I heard a loud burst of laugh outside, Mathieu. Ugh! I thought to myself, why did he have to hear that? I could imagine that on Monday half the school would know. Why me!? I thought.