Evening jam
Elsie doodled, fiddling with her calligraphy brush and the stark black ink. Flicking her wrist swiftly, she formed a smooth, dynamic curve. But something was missing. Biting the back of the brush stick, Elsie ran her hand through her hair, then frustratingly twisted it up and jabbed another brush through to hold it up. She needed more ink.
Carefully, she removed the the cap and poured a puddle out from the bottle and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her swirling thoughts, although still buzzing, settled slightly. I'm getting addicted to this stuff. People get addicted to coffee, to cigarettes, to tea while I'm here addicted to ink. Oh wells. Elsie stared at the puddle, the surface already drying up into a shiny black mirror...
She peered down through the sparse balcony aluminium railings of the 2nd storey apartment where she living. Lines of cars were crawling down the main road like an ant trial. Inspiration was not coming and the clock was ticking. She leaned back into her rattan armchair and lifted her legs up to cross them atop the horizontal balcony railing. Elsie checked her phone, a rare act of succumbing to distractions. No new messages. No missed calls.
She sighed as she continued working. The chinese family downstairs was burning incense and paper money at a greater amount than usual. The scent was stronger, smoke rising up to the balcony was thicker, and hung in the air, clouding her vision slightly. Elsie blinked hard, attempting to clear the blurriness. Suddenly she felt a pair of hands placed gently on her shoulders. Startled, she turned adruptly around, dropping her brush in the process creating a splat of ink on the ground, an additional one of many.
Raye. Immediately, an overwhelming pleasant sensation rose inside her but was quickly covered with petty hurt as she turned her back to him. "You're here", she muttered and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Sorry Elsie... I didn mean to lose contact with you for so long. I begged the family downstairs so long, speaking in my broken cantonese just to humour them into passing me the key to your house."
"And why would you want to trespass into my property?"
"Hmm, I told them I commited a grave mistake and had to apologise and placate you so I strategised to come in and surprise you."
Elsie turned and looked at him skeptically. "Wow, great strategy. I'm greatly impressed. They believed that?"
Raye grinned sheepishly and then said "Well no, not exactly... but it's not like they dont know we're close friends...thus concluding it's safe to pass me the keys... possibly also under the influence of that mystical haze surrounding their house, impeding logical reasoning..."
Elsie could not help but smile at this and turned back again to face the road below, although her stance was no longer defensive. Raye obviously noted that as he moved to stand beside her, gazing at the scene below, typical during peak hour. Neither spoke another word.
Suddenly, the jam eased. The cars below streamed past, glad to be liberated from the dull, crawling phase.
Carefully, she removed the the cap and poured a puddle out from the bottle and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her swirling thoughts, although still buzzing, settled slightly. I'm getting addicted to this stuff. People get addicted to coffee, to cigarettes, to tea while I'm here addicted to ink. Oh wells. Elsie stared at the puddle, the surface already drying up into a shiny black mirror...
She peered down through the sparse balcony aluminium railings of the 2nd storey apartment where she living. Lines of cars were crawling down the main road like an ant trial. Inspiration was not coming and the clock was ticking. She leaned back into her rattan armchair and lifted her legs up to cross them atop the horizontal balcony railing. Elsie checked her phone, a rare act of succumbing to distractions. No new messages. No missed calls.
She sighed as she continued working. The chinese family downstairs was burning incense and paper money at a greater amount than usual. The scent was stronger, smoke rising up to the balcony was thicker, and hung in the air, clouding her vision slightly. Elsie blinked hard, attempting to clear the blurriness. Suddenly she felt a pair of hands placed gently on her shoulders. Startled, she turned adruptly around, dropping her brush in the process creating a splat of ink on the ground, an additional one of many.
Raye. Immediately, an overwhelming pleasant sensation rose inside her but was quickly covered with petty hurt as she turned her back to him. "You're here", she muttered and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Sorry Elsie... I didn mean to lose contact with you for so long. I begged the family downstairs so long, speaking in my broken cantonese just to humour them into passing me the key to your house."
"And why would you want to trespass into my property?"
"Hmm, I told them I commited a grave mistake and had to apologise and placate you so I strategised to come in and surprise you."
Elsie turned and looked at him skeptically. "Wow, great strategy. I'm greatly impressed. They believed that?"
Raye grinned sheepishly and then said "Well no, not exactly... but it's not like they dont know we're close friends...thus concluding it's safe to pass me the keys... possibly also under the influence of that mystical haze surrounding their house, impeding logical reasoning..."
Elsie could not help but smile at this and turned back again to face the road below, although her stance was no longer defensive. Raye obviously noted that as he moved to stand beside her, gazing at the scene below, typical during peak hour. Neither spoke another word.
Suddenly, the jam eased. The cars below streamed past, glad to be liberated from the dull, crawling phase.
posted by C~~~@ at 2:42 AM
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