Work (a) fortune

©Fatima Fakier Deria

“You should be as lucky to work at the docks”.

It was something he heard his uncle constantly say, whenever he saw him once or twice annually. As a young boy he looked up to his favourite relative because he would always have an interesting story to say. Rather a bunch of them. He made life seem so spectacular, so adventurous, so….worth living.

But it was only when he grew up and actually got a job supervising the deliveries of a container ship that he finally understood what his uncle meant.

Life at the docks was different. It was simply…more.

 

Also part of Friday Fictioneers.

Also part of Daily Prompt: Fortune

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The incomprehensible female nature

“There is a girl at school that is picking on me,” barked Harriet as she entered the kitchen, throwing her bag on the floor.

She sat down at the kitchen table, silent.

Her young mother turned at looked at her. The little girl’s expression was caught between fighting a rage and restraining the tears.

“We’ve all been there, sweetie,” the older woman said soothingly. “And not just at school. It doesn’t really change much as age increases”.

“But these people only have the value you grant them. Try not to pay so much attention and you’ll see she’ll eventually stop. The more she sees she is getting to you, the more she’ll carry on like this. Just remember, we’re jealous and mostly envious of the people we think are better than us. So you have nothing to worry about. Don’t scoop to her level. Show her she is right to be jealous of you. And be the brave and strong little girl I know I have. I know it’s hard, but don’t stick to such issues for so long. We women have a curious way of overthinking and over-analysing everything. I think we spend over half our day doing that. And it is only women who have such issues with one another, pretending hypocritically that they love each other while they stab one another in the back. Just don’t get caught in the trap”.

“I’ll second that,” said the little girl’s father as he walked into the kitchen, warmly kissed his wife, and wrapped his arms around his daughter.

“Men have a different type of bond between them. One that women can’t understand. For better or worse we are simpler creatures. You women, though…” he sighed, “no matter how much time we spend with you, we’ll never be able to truly understand you!” He looked at his wife. “But regardless of the nagging and your incomprehensible nature, we wouldn’t know what to do without you, and we love you more than you know”. His wife smiled her blush away as her face illuminated.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Symbiosis

Ordinary is boring

Some people take pride in being ordinary; feeling embarrassed if they are even the slightest bit different than everyone else. But in fact, we weren’t born to be the same. We are here to stand out. To do something different and to bring something original into the societies we live in.

There are no ordinary people. Because everyone has a unique aspect that may take some effort to discover. Indeed, “genius is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one” (Erza Pound).

Similarly, there are no ordinary moments. The moments are what we make of them. The feelings we share and the experiences we gather.

We are often prompted to find joy in what seems like the ordinary. Because, cliché as it may seem, it is in the little things that all the great emotions lie.

So when you feel like you’re just ordinary, think again. And do something a little bit different. Dare to change.

Remember, “the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra” (Jimmy Johnson).

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Ordinary

The forgotten mansion

©J Hardy Carroll

It was this time of year a few years ago when the mansion’s garden sprung to life as the flowers and tress bloomed, splashing the entire neighbourhood in colour and granting surrounding residents with a sense of renewed optimism.

The silver gate gleamed in the sunlight, and was almost always open, welcoming guests into this “hint of paradise”.

But then it happened. As if a dark cloud settled over the mansion; everything crumbled. The garden was abandoned in sorrow, and the gate was closed.

The mansion was now left deserted, with only the memory of the life that once was.

 

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

The intruding spring

Henry woke up when a bed spring penetrated his mattress and scratched his knee calf. The sting was enough to make him jump out of bed. Then, he had to get up.

He wasn’t a morning person. Not everybody is. Despite the fact that he was well aware of the French saying that the world belongs to those who get up early (“le monde appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt”); he was more of a supporter of the Italian one that it is sweet to do nothing (“dolce far niente”).

This was one of those mornings when he’d rather stay in bed. Henry was the type of person who upon knowing that he had a list of things to do, could not find the urge to do any of them. Instead, he would find other things to do, making his list grow longer.

He was the person who would always find something to do. His problem wasn’t not having something to do, but rather never having enough time to do it. Sometimes even desire.

But today it was different. The intruding spring made him realise that sometimes it is better to get up early because you enjoy more of the day, particularly on mornings illuminated by sunlight. Plus, you often have the chance to spend more time with the people you love.

So despite the inappropriate wake-up call, the day would develop much better and by nightfall Henry would be glad he was pushed out of bed so early.

There is always a more positive side to everything; if you’re open-hearted enough to see it.

When time stops

“Come on!!” she bounced impatiently in front of him, her face beaming with excitement. The adrenaline pumping in his body made his heart feel like it wanted to pounce out of his chest. He looked ahead, trying to avoid looking down.

A rope bridge extended in front of him. It was everything but what you would describe as ‘safe’. But this is what she described as “an adventure”. “Something different; something spectacular; something out of the ordinary,” she had told him.

“Come on!! It’s either this or skydiving!”

“I’d much rather do the latter at the moment,” he replied trying to contain the tremor in his voice.

“Well, if a step breaks on the way we might do both!” She joked, but deep inside she was as scared as he was terrified.

He paused for a moment, allowing himself to inhale the amazing scenery that surrounded him. It was all so serene; so quiet; so calm. It was as if time had stopped.

That is how he always felt with her. As if nothing and no one else mattered. It was a record for him. Falling so deeply and feeling so much in such a short time. But it was one he was happy to break again and again if it meant being with her and experiencing so much more than he could have even imagined before she came along.

“Come on! It’ll be dark soon.” She extended her hand as she pranced ahead bravely feigning a first step.

“Wait!” he called out.  He took her hand and aligned himself beside her.

“Together.”

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Record

Lost in a horizon

Sometimes there are moments when you have nothing to say. There are people who go through such moments, and others who never experience them at all. The former are often the ones who know that sometimes silence is worth so much more than blabber. And it is often them that get lost in their thoughts, staring out the window into the horizon, allowing their mind to drift.

It is in those moments that you allow your soul to relax, to breathe, to regenerate itself.

Because it is in those moments that you enable the storm inside you to cool down.

On days that begin with sun, then bringing on clouds, rain, storms, thunder, hail, to return to sun, and repeat the cycle; that is when you need to be quiet the most. To take it all in and to admire the forces of nature that more often than not reflect our own emotions.

It is said that unless what you have to say is better than silence, then be quiet. Wouldn’t the world be so much better without all the useless noise pollution? Wouldn’t we all be calmer and more serene rather than the nervous wrecks we have (been forced) to become?

Just think about it for a minute. In silence.

That sense of Spring

It’s when the first warm rays of sun slice through your window that it strikes you. When that warmth diffusing into your skin and you turn your head to view a clear blue sky. That is when you feel it. How exhausted you are from not stopping even a minute to just…breathe.

When the birds begin to sing louder and in a greater chorus; when light and music overwhelms your living space; when you open the doors and windows to welcome in the fresh air; when colour takes over more of the day; and when everything seems so much more vivid and more alive, that is when you know Spring has come.

And you feel it inside you too. That need to relax a bit, to do something different, to get away even for a few hours. You see it around you – cabriolet cars and motorbikes start to appear more often, walks on the beach become the norm, and people are overtaken by the urge to sit outside and soak up the sun.

It all becomes more vivid in Spring. That sense that we should be grateful to be alive and that we should be relishing each and every moment we have.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Vivid