Saturday, December 20, 2008

sunday scribblings - late


One, two, one, two. She stamps her feet on the ground trying to wake them up from a near frosty death. Pulling her beanie another inch down to her ears, she looks towards the end of the road. The street is packed with cars moving slowly to avoid hitting a crazed Christmas shopper in a shopping-rush. She doesn't look at the cars near her, only to the very end of the road, where new cars come along. That's the first chance she has of seeing the car and she already knows none of those who approach her are the one she is expecting to see. 

She looks into her hands, even redder now than a minute before, and decides to throw the rest of her cake away. She only bought it to entertain herself while she was waiting but after a couple of bites it went from being a greasy, characterless cake to being an icy, greasy, characterless cake. A dark-haired man walks by holding hands with a little girl, dressed in pink from head to toe. She notices her little gloves have a small embroidered heart. A remarkable cloud of steam comes out of her mouth as she lets out a sigh. As a child she enjoyed playing with her friends pretending they were smoking. She has never stopped being amused by the steam occurence. 

She looks into her watch and then to the end of the road impatiently. Perhaps she should return to the old techniques of counting how many red cars pass by, to help time pass. After counting two cars she gives up and checks her mobile phone, to see if it's still working. 

'Hey!' a familiar voice makes her turn around. Finally! A man and a small girl are standing in front of her, faces pink with the cold and big smiles on their faces.

'You're late!' she replies, unable to stop smiling herself. 'Where have you been? I was worried!'

'Ah, you know, we found a toy shop in our way.' he replies, winking conspicuously at the little girl. 

'I thought you were bringing the car.' she says as they start walking along the road.

'It wouldn't start, so we took the subway.'

She picks the little girl up in her arms as they go along...

'So what have you been up to in the toy shop?'

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20 comments:

Lucy said...

what a great story, it really made me feel like the holidays are around the corner! I felt like I could just sense her frosty face. :)

Rinkly Rimes said...

Your character (was it you?) managed to stay calm. I panic if anyone's late!

Anonymous said...

Perfect little holiday story around "late"!

Shadow said...

she's baaaack! great holiday story!

anthonynorth said...

All's well for Xmas, there.
Nicely done.

Niall young said...

Your little tale here is like a slice out of a bigger cake..I can only assume that the rest of the cake is as wonderfully made as this bit was!....may we have another slice?

Rositta said...

Memories of my childhood come flashing back, beautiful story...ciao

Devil Mood said...

Hi Lucy, ah wonderful, thanks!

Rinkly Rimes: Not me, but I guess they weren't that late, so she didn't panic ;)

Niebla: Hi, thanks for visiting.

Thanks Shadow ;)

AnthonyNorth: True, all is well.

Niall: I'm afraid this was a lone cookie. ;)

Rositta: Oh I love your avatar photo! Thank you.

Granny Smith said...

Brrrr! I'm shivering from your vivid scene of cold weather, some of which we are experiencing right now in the Seattle area where we are visiting my son and his family for Christmas amidst an unusual storm of ice and snow.

deepbluewater said...

welcome back ;)

murat11 said...

I love the Flatiron Building in the background of your image. Steichen icon. And I love the little girl's gloves with the hearts.

Even with such a simple vignette, you fill in such lovely emotional colors, DM.

Merry Christmas. Hope your own two elves bring you much Toy Joy (name of a toy store in Austin for kids of all ages).

Roan said...

Toys stores are a good reason for being late. I enjoyed this holiday story.

Tumblewords: said...

this is a lovely holiday story! lovely!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Ms. Mood. Now I have a sugar rush ;-)

Natalie said...

yes, i was so cold reading it! : )

Anonymous said...

enchanting- i can imagine ice skaters in the background.

sirbarrett said...

You have snow in Portugal?? Well that makes me feel not so different...like we're sharing a similar sense of the holidays. :)

Devil Mood said...

Granny: It's always easier to imagine something we're surrounded by!

Deepbluewater: thank you!

Murat: Ah toy joy sounds like heaven. I still like toys, I'm afraid...ah Lego! ;)

BJ Roan: Oh absolutely! Hurray for toy stores.

Tumblewords, thank you.

Missalister: need some help getting over it there?

Natalie: hehee good!

Gel: It would fit very well.

SirBarrett: Oh yes, we have snow, though that photo is from NYC. But not where I live, I must say. It doesn't snow here at all.

phish said...

i could see every frame! incredibly beautiful devil.


oh you.

Devil Mood said...

hehehe Phish, I'm glad. ;)