(no subject)
Ice Cream
= An Odd Number of Stars
+ Grape #10 [negative space]
+ Rainbow Sprinkles
+ Malt [Summer Challenge: Bunny 75: Nowhere seems to be a destination these days]
The world was a place where nothing happened according to plan and everyone was cruel. At least she had ice cream, right.
Anya was still a little sore after her breakup with David.
Words: 1010 Character: Anya Timeframe: November 2009
-------> Back To School Challenge Marathon.
It was the end of the day when Anya got to the supermarket. She had to drive there because she couldn’t stand using the little market too close to her home. The sweet old ladies at the checkout counter had asked her how David was. How was she supposed to keep a straight face with that kind of a question?
Winter was creeping up. Anya hated this wet period of the autumn right at the end of October and at the beginning of November, when her very bones ached for something other than rain and that dreary autumn sunshine. She would sit in her car, watching the drops collect on the side mirrors while she waited for a traffic light, trying to freeze them with her very eyes.
It never worked.
Now she was standing here, in the Freezer section of this tiny supermarket, annoyed to see that they didn’t have Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food. All they had was that stupid chocolate fudge stuff. The supermarket next on 79th St. fucking had Phish Food.
“Are you alright there, dear?” The woman at the cashier was hurrying over, her glasses bouncing off her fat little frame as she waddled over there. Anya felt slightly spiteful as she looked down at the woman, examining the woman’s many chins and her yellow toothed smile. She didn’t see the woman’s helpful smile or slightly nervous wringing of hands.
“I’m fine, ma’am.” Anya brushed her off, straightening up and fishing several tubs of the crappy Ben & Jerry’s that they had and loading it into her pitifully empty basket. It took time to get used to cooking and shopping for just one person, didn’t it?
“Are you sure? You look a little lost? Do you want a tissue?” This woman was genuinely concerned. Or just nosy. Either way, Anya grudgingly accepted the tissue as her stupid eye kept welling up. Damn cold.
“I’m fine.” Anya sniffed, suddenly overcome with an overwhelming urge to hug this small little woman who was looking at her with a critical but worried eye.
“You don’t look fine, honey.” The woman disagreed. She began slowly walking to the check out, and like a sheep, Anya followed.
“I am. It’s just a little cold you know. I think I have a cold.” To emphasise her point, Anya quickly blew her nose again, placing her basket on the conveyer belt. The woman looked sceptical, but just shrugged and slowly started unloading the small basket.
“You seem to be having quite the party!” The woman commented, though her tone showed slight disbelief as she placed the three bottles of wine and the four containers of ice cream in two separate bags before giving Anya the chewing gum packet to put in her purse.
“On my own.” Anya corrected, suddenly becoming too weary of the day to play around. Odds were that she was never going to see this woman again, so what was the point of making up some random lie? She might as well tell the truth. “My boyfriend and I split up about a week ago, so I’m still getting used to living by myself.” Anya tried to explain lamely, feeling stupid as she made the excuse. The woman just nodded sympathetically.
“He left you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. She was perhaps in her late forties, wrinkles around her tanned brown skin becoming more prominent as she tilted her head. Anya quickly noted that she hated her fringe and would gladly cut it off. In this light the hairs on the woman’s cheek and over her lip became prominent, calling attention to themselves and somehow Anya felt the urge to touch them: they looked so soft!
She shook her head as she realised they were standing in an awkward silence. Back to the question. Had David left her?
Anya hated this question. She hated being the female damsel in distress who had been stereotypically dumped by her boyfriend and was now waiting around for another man to save her from this heart break. She wasn’t a cliché, and yet somehow, this time around, her life had played itself out like one. Anya really wanted to lie. Tell the short old woman that no, actually, Anya had dumped him. Which was technically true. But it didn’t answer the woman’s question.
“Yes, he left me.” Anya admitted, looking up at the ceiling to stop any potential tears. “He was having an affair. When I found out, I dumped him.” She needed to add that. Make sure even this complete stranger knew what moral fibre Anya was made out of. She wasn’t a completely wimp: she should know that.
“That’s the worst. My husband cheated on me too.” The woman admitted with a melancholy sigh. “I worked it out with him though, because we had the children and stuff.” She waved her hand. “But sometimes, when he’s gone again, I wonder whether staying was really worth it.”
Anya smiled weakly at the woman. “It hurts so much sometimes.” She whispered. This woman understood her pain. She understood how much Anya still loved David with his little stutter and short Jewish parents and his obsession with the alphabetic order. She understood that every time David left a bouquet of flowers by the door with a little card saying ‘I’m Sorry’ in his neat block writing Anya wanted to melt, sobbing. She wanted David back so much; wanted him to tidy their crummy little apartment so she could mess it up again; wanted everything to go back.
But every time she picked up the phone to call him, the idea of him whispering those three words she thought were sacred to someone else just ripped open her heart again.
This woman understood. “It hurts. But it will heal.” The woman smiled weakly. “And until then you can eat ice cream.”
Anya laughed weakly.
There really was no hope, was there? The world was a place where nothing happened according to plan and everyone was cruel. At least she had ice cream, right.
= An Odd Number of Stars
+ Grape #10 [negative space]
+ Rainbow Sprinkles
+ Malt [Summer Challenge: Bunny 75: Nowhere seems to be a destination these days]
The world was a place where nothing happened according to plan and everyone was cruel. At least she had ice cream, right.
Anya was still a little sore after her breakup with David.
Words: 1010 Character: Anya Timeframe: November 2009
-------> Back To School Challenge Marathon.
It was the end of the day when Anya got to the supermarket. She had to drive there because she couldn’t stand using the little market too close to her home. The sweet old ladies at the checkout counter had asked her how David was. How was she supposed to keep a straight face with that kind of a question?
Winter was creeping up. Anya hated this wet period of the autumn right at the end of October and at the beginning of November, when her very bones ached for something other than rain and that dreary autumn sunshine. She would sit in her car, watching the drops collect on the side mirrors while she waited for a traffic light, trying to freeze them with her very eyes.
It never worked.
Now she was standing here, in the Freezer section of this tiny supermarket, annoyed to see that they didn’t have Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food. All they had was that stupid chocolate fudge stuff. The supermarket next on 79th St. fucking had Phish Food.
“Are you alright there, dear?” The woman at the cashier was hurrying over, her glasses bouncing off her fat little frame as she waddled over there. Anya felt slightly spiteful as she looked down at the woman, examining the woman’s many chins and her yellow toothed smile. She didn’t see the woman’s helpful smile or slightly nervous wringing of hands.
“I’m fine, ma’am.” Anya brushed her off, straightening up and fishing several tubs of the crappy Ben & Jerry’s that they had and loading it into her pitifully empty basket. It took time to get used to cooking and shopping for just one person, didn’t it?
“Are you sure? You look a little lost? Do you want a tissue?” This woman was genuinely concerned. Or just nosy. Either way, Anya grudgingly accepted the tissue as her stupid eye kept welling up. Damn cold.
“I’m fine.” Anya sniffed, suddenly overcome with an overwhelming urge to hug this small little woman who was looking at her with a critical but worried eye.
“You don’t look fine, honey.” The woman disagreed. She began slowly walking to the check out, and like a sheep, Anya followed.
“I am. It’s just a little cold you know. I think I have a cold.” To emphasise her point, Anya quickly blew her nose again, placing her basket on the conveyer belt. The woman looked sceptical, but just shrugged and slowly started unloading the small basket.
“You seem to be having quite the party!” The woman commented, though her tone showed slight disbelief as she placed the three bottles of wine and the four containers of ice cream in two separate bags before giving Anya the chewing gum packet to put in her purse.
“On my own.” Anya corrected, suddenly becoming too weary of the day to play around. Odds were that she was never going to see this woman again, so what was the point of making up some random lie? She might as well tell the truth. “My boyfriend and I split up about a week ago, so I’m still getting used to living by myself.” Anya tried to explain lamely, feeling stupid as she made the excuse. The woman just nodded sympathetically.
“He left you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. She was perhaps in her late forties, wrinkles around her tanned brown skin becoming more prominent as she tilted her head. Anya quickly noted that she hated her fringe and would gladly cut it off. In this light the hairs on the woman’s cheek and over her lip became prominent, calling attention to themselves and somehow Anya felt the urge to touch them: they looked so soft!
She shook her head as she realised they were standing in an awkward silence. Back to the question. Had David left her?
Anya hated this question. She hated being the female damsel in distress who had been stereotypically dumped by her boyfriend and was now waiting around for another man to save her from this heart break. She wasn’t a cliché, and yet somehow, this time around, her life had played itself out like one. Anya really wanted to lie. Tell the short old woman that no, actually, Anya had dumped him. Which was technically true. But it didn’t answer the woman’s question.
“Yes, he left me.” Anya admitted, looking up at the ceiling to stop any potential tears. “He was having an affair. When I found out, I dumped him.” She needed to add that. Make sure even this complete stranger knew what moral fibre Anya was made out of. She wasn’t a completely wimp: she should know that.
“That’s the worst. My husband cheated on me too.” The woman admitted with a melancholy sigh. “I worked it out with him though, because we had the children and stuff.” She waved her hand. “But sometimes, when he’s gone again, I wonder whether staying was really worth it.”
Anya smiled weakly at the woman. “It hurts so much sometimes.” She whispered. This woman understood her pain. She understood how much Anya still loved David with his little stutter and short Jewish parents and his obsession with the alphabetic order. She understood that every time David left a bouquet of flowers by the door with a little card saying ‘I’m Sorry’ in his neat block writing Anya wanted to melt, sobbing. She wanted David back so much; wanted him to tidy their crummy little apartment so she could mess it up again; wanted everything to go back.
But every time she picked up the phone to call him, the idea of him whispering those three words she thought were sacred to someone else just ripped open her heart again.
This woman understood. “It hurts. But it will heal.” The woman smiled weakly. “And until then you can eat ice cream.”
Anya laughed weakly.
There really was no hope, was there? The world was a place where nothing happened according to plan and everyone was cruel. At least she had ice cream, right.