Day for night billboard

The bus seat vibrated beneath her tired body. The physical and mental fatigue she usually felt after the shift had spared her tonight. Unconsciously lunging along with the gearshift, she felt alert. Maybe it was the excitement of what she was coming home to. With those high hopes she looked out as she passed through the candy glowing city at night, her mind fastened with anticipation.

Haircut

This was his big break. There was no shame in working your way up he thought, the limelight couldn’t be very far off, the prestige, the glory. Foolishness. He looked around, really took it all in, he realized there was no way to survive the thrumming din of the environment. The speakers blared with its unbalanced bass and the machines blew less hot air than the incessant chatter of the hen-like women. He registered the failure light blinking in his mind, in fact it glared red. He had no choice but to plot his escape.

Birds on the road

Her withered eyes stared down at the pavement. She rarely looked up anymore, she figured she’d seen it all at this point and felt no need to watch the parade skirt by. Part of her wished that anything would come and her take her by surprise, sneaking up in the shadows, but no one came close. The sun’s reflection still gleamed onto her downturned face, igniting her eyes within their wrinkled orbits. All was not lost.

The Skirt

Everyone stared at my mama. It wasn’t until I got older that I understood those looks. Old women crooked their eyebrows and young women held on to their man. And the men, all types, could not help but crane their necks to gawk or if they were classy, sneak a subtle glance. Mama remained blissfully ignorant. It was an immaturity I came to know that was laden with far more than her girlish attire.

Light flare

He lay stunned trying to piece together the murky night. Drinks with friends, fights with strangers, it was hard to recall what barely seemed real. With extreme need to focus he forced himself to think of what was important, it was supposed to be family, he knew that but all he could see what was in front of him. With his briefcase still in his right hand grip, he dragged himself upright with difficulty and shrugged off any embarrassment. He honed into his beacon and stumbled towards it.

Fashion show

It was a Faberge egg of a world and he was finally part of its stunning inner pattern of jewels. He was there, the centre of attention, all eyes on his work. Proving he could reach the heights he had watched others achieve felt good. The harder work was to come in buffering the reaction that would attack him on all sensitive fronts. He knew this and guarded his feelings with the exercise he had perfected, by repressing and shoving them deep down. It was needless, his creativity would rise above it.

Oz poster

His innocent eyes widened. To discover that fairytales aren’t true, the tooth fairy doesn’t exist and Santa is a fat man at the mall was just too much. It was the final learning curve that pushed him into repugnant reality. He now knew that everything came with shades of grey and multiple levels of truths and lies. His point of view of life, being able to see the other side of things, would become a talent and a strength.

Daytime umbrella

They had dragged him here unwillingly. He understood every good reason to come; the grandchildren would have opportunities never afforded to him. He stood by as his children slaved away to give the younger ones any and everything. The so-called opportunities had soured into spoiling. They were brats. It was an imposition that he tolerated.

Slippered man

Had it been a good life? He wasn’t so sure. To everyone else he seemed accomplished, if he was truthful to himself, it was over compensating that had got him that far. The early traumas had spurred him to do better, but still lived within him like it was yesterday. Now that he had no real power to live up to, they cobbled him. It would take a mysterious turn of events to take him by surprise and realize that he still had more to give.

Walking under king bridge

Being asked to show someone the proverbial ropes was a notch down. Changing her outlook just made her feel foreign and out of place; her face, a mask with its plastered on, outlined smile, her clothing like semi soft exterior of a cockroach, chaffing as she tried to keep it together. With her position being usurped she thought hard and fast about her next moves. And they were to be deadly.

CBC cityscape

Cheerfully she embarked on her day with eagerness. In the face of city cool she wore her excitement on her sleeve. Other colleagues, also like her, from far-flung small towns, faked it like they had spent their lives here. They pitied her positivity and hid their hunger and desire to be the best. It was easy for her to spot the chinks in their armor, and with this knowledge she ploughed forth to win.

Gun poster

It was seductive. People would respect him like this, carrying the ultimate accessory. They would have no choice but to take him seriously. Reinvention could do it, he thought, but it would be a lot of work. He frowned thinking of the serious commitment involved. And lazily talked himself out of it.

Suede boots

She hated waiting and doubted he was worth it. Minute by minute led to further fuming. No one wants to stand around and her mother once said ringingly “never wait longer than 15 minutes for a man”. Other men were starting to look at her funny, slyly trying to make eye contact. She got madder, shifting her weight from leg to leg, trying to take a diffident stance. As he rounded the corner, sweating while he rushed, she melted and instantly forgot how she had steamed.

Tulip

She lay there as inert as possible, holding her breath but observing it all. It was her favourite spot, the one where she felt alive and in colour. This view eclipsed any fear and ugliness that had tried to find it’s way in. The beauty of it, textural and layered, bright and elegant, was her reminder.

Clothesline

He carefully surveyed what was destined to be his. The excruciating years of taunting and teasing, of hiding out in the dark corners and enduring bottom of the barrel status had ended. The scrappy gang of boys had grown up, most had left, he had stayed, begrudgingly at first, then with subdued acceptance. It had come slowly but the keys to the kingdom were finally his.