| | Outside, the noise levels are stupendously high, some classics for a sausage sizzle. Inside, the quiet murmur of exchanged thoughts disturbs me just as much as the ridiculous blaring music. I'll tell you a story.
Tess had a way with words. She loved winning arguments against her family, friends and teachers. In English class, she always had her hand in the air, accosting her teacher over every little discrepancy on interpretation. Tess wanted to be a writer one day; she wanted to write long epic stories that would lull her readers into a interminable fantasy of wonders, conflicts, rescues and comebacks.
Three out of the four walls of Tess's room were lined with tall oaken library shelves, each one hosting a huge range of books, from the enlightening encyclopedia collections, to the mundane dribble of chic lit. Tess's bed was surrounded by haphazardly stacked books, and near the window were big, comfy yet firm cushions - a clean white to match her thick woollen carpet; the window sill looked out onto the street where the neighbourhood kids played street cricket and hide and seek, and the sun always shined in brightly from morning to midday, and when it bade it's farewell, there was a sleek silver lamp nearby, with a bright, reliable light ready for Tess.
Tess loved school. She was different from the other girls her age; they were always talking about televisions shows, clothes and boys. Tess' lover was literature. She indulged in love stories, and each story was personal to her. She endevoured to avoid film adaptations of her novels, as they were a violation to her precepts. School was a place where Tess could shine, it was a place where ardent reading solicited praise rather than mockery. Everyday after school, Tess would stride home, eat her lunch, finish her homework and jump right into her books. On days when she felt like hunting for hiddem gems, she would head out to the library and peruse the fiction section fastidiously.
It was during one such outing that she met Joseph. Joseph happened to be at the library due to an unfortunate event involving a hideous looking spider and his predilection for agitating pests before he killed them. Tess noticed him frantically flipping through a book title: "Spiders and their habitats" by A.M. Elmith. Tess didn't notice the heart-shaped arrow flying into her chest, but she did suddenly feel very red in the face. Joseph, having failed to notice her standing there with her basket full of books, continued to rip through the book, his eyes darting between the pictures in the book and the 7 legged spider in an empty jam jar.
Tess spent the next few days haunting the library in hope of seeing Joseph again. Her heart yearned for his deep hazel eyes, and his magnificent mousey-brown hair. But Joseph never came: He had discovered that Huntsman spiders' venom was rather harmless, and had kept the spider as a pet. Tess found herself unable to focus on her serious books, and started to read silly love stories that her mother kept in the lounge downstairs. She started to talk to her friends at school about Joseph, and gradually made more and more friends. As she picked up shopping, she neglected her classics; as she started going to parties, she stopped reading her encyclopedias. And that my friends, is how you change a girl's life.
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| | Posted 4/1/2009 11:18 AM - 14 Views - 2 eProps - 2 comments
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