For this asignment, we were told to compose a short story that can relay a claim without explicitly saying it; In my short story I chose to deal with the concept of vacation, and how it is not necessarily about going somewhere far away and expensive, but rather about being comfortable and relaxed.
Leaving Paradise
It was beautiful; absolutely beautiful. And perfect, absolutely perfect. The sun sat at its beautiful northern location, the water was stagnant except for some slow movement against the sand, and the almost-transparent clouds floated lazily across the sky. It was just like Carolina had always imagined it to be.
Her jaw rhythmically bounced up and down, grounding her chewing-gum into condensed rubber until the left side of her mouth began to ache, so that she could then move it to the right, and so on again. Her fingers tapped their tenth song in the past hour, this time a duet with the addition of her feet. On the distant left side of the patio she watched an ant run around in circles, gleefully trying to decide between the provided bread crumbs.
As her eyes scanned the patio, her view migrated towards her toes. Perhaps she should pain them! Her body jerked up in a move so sudden that she tipped over the glass, half-filled with special and extremely expensive Jamaican lemonade. This conveniently fell right on top of the soap stain where the remains of her also very special and extremely expensive omelette had lain on the floor. A slow smile crept into her face; she’d have to clean that as well.
Twenty minutes later. Lounge chair, new soap stain, painted fingernails and toenails, jaw bouncing, fingers tapping, and eyes darting. Her large gumball had now grown in size, and could easily be used in replacement of a softball, if it had only not been so stick and, well, made out of gum. The and had now acquired friends and all three of them were working together to miraculously carry the slice of bread that Carolina had ‘accidentally’ dropped in their proximity. She watched them like a vulture.
“Beep...Beep” her phone rang out, destroying her pensive concentration. Almost simultaneously with the second beep, Carolina jolted upright and watched the meager phone vibrate on the other side of the table. First, second, third ring; it seemed desperate to pick up any time before the third ring. She clutched the scrap of metal like a nervous child grasping a toy, and slammed it against her check, and waited.
“...Hello?”
Ew. It’s Pat.
“Oh, Hello Pats, I must’ve accidentally left my Bluetooth in my ear! You know how distracting vacationing can be. How are you? How’s everything back at the office?” Stupid, stupid! Why did she sound so eager?
“Same old, same old. How’s the five star resort and spa treating ya?”
“ Huh?... Oh! It has been fantastic. I couldn’t tell you everything if I tried...if I’m not relaxing at the spa, then i”m relaxing at the condo, or at the beach...I even spent the morning just relaxing; watching the water sway back and forth, back and forth and again-”
“Is everything okay? Are you upset?!”
“What? No!” She answered a bit too quickly. “This has been like a very long and beautiful dream... I’d much rather be here, relaxing by the water, than at home with work... with everyone.”
“That’s what I thought....I’d do anything to switch places with you”
Carolina could hear her envy through the phone; of course she would. Everyone would. Carolina was lucky, very very lucky.
“Oh I’m sorry! You must be busy, relaxing and all; look at me calling you up from work, hoping to get you to help me-”
“I can help!” She almost squeaked.
“Oh, thank you so much, but I couldn’t take away your vacation time! I know you haven’t had a week off since last summer! so enjoy it while it lasts, I can tell you it’s over much too soon. Don’t forget to call me when you get back!” --- Dial tone.
“.... Will do.”
She lasted for another four hours.
“Thank you--” She paid the taxi driver with a hefty tip. After all, it must have been quite expensive dribving everywhere so slowly; she expected his gas tank to be running on empty by now.
“Leavin’ so soon?” He asked with his strong Jamaican accent.
“....Work emergency. You know how it is... Thank you so much though! It was... most relaxing...” She almost laughed.
The plane landed, she got her luggage, and took a taxi back home to her SoHo apartment; Quick and easy. During her five yard walk to her doorstep she encountered a total of ten different people, six different nationalities, two rich, two homeless, and even an old acquaintance.
Opening her pond colored slab-of-wood door, the smell of overripe fruits, and cat litter dispersed into the hall. For a moment there, she stood transfixed by the sight; there were clothes everywhere, magazines and books scattered all over the floor, newspaper where the last leak had been; it was perfect.
“Beep...Beep” Not again. Why couldn’t people just leave her alone? She tried to frown, yet her cheeks twitched and a smile took over.
“Yes?”
“Oh hey Carry, I was just wondering if you could help me after all...It seems that nobody in the office can figure out how to fix the--”
“Pat? Do you hear me?- Pat?” Carolina hung up the phone. She never really liked Pat anyway.
She grabbed her stinky six-year old cat, Joey, and walked over to the fridge, where she grabbed some cheap left-over Chinese food and pizza. There, they feasted like kings.
Joey’s tail ended up knocking down Carolina’s water bottle.
“Joooeeeyy! Now, why’d you do that”
She grudgingly picked up the plastic waste, and continued on with her meal, completely disregarding the wet stain on the hardwood floors. It will dry-up eventually, she thought.
Afterwards, she logged onto her work computer- fixed the program, along with all the other ones she was able to find, called up all her associates and made sure everything was going smoothly, did a bit of house-cleaning whilst dancing to the radio, and then watched the sunset from her living room window.
Satisfied, she finally unplugged her alarm clock, and felt relaxed.
In the kitchen, a group of sluggish ants rested next to her fruit basket.
