Prejudiced thieves

Even for days before, Emma was suffering a panic attack. At the thought alone of what was to come, her breathing became faster, her stomach felt tied in a knot and she had an unbearable pain pounding on her chest. Her head felt almost too much to carry on her shoulders, and she was very often dizzy.

Stress was a bad companion.

More so when it was accompanied by prejudices.

We all carry them with us. Our own perspectives and beliefs on how things will be. They are shaped by past experiences, our mentality, our notions of reality, of what we’ve already seen and felt. We have an apt for predicting the future, for irrationally wanting it to pan out the way it’s forecast in our heads, so that we can pat ourselves on the back later on and confirm our worst fears, telling ourselves we were right. It is one of the paradoxes of human nature. Of wishing things don’t turn out to be the prejudice we have in mind, but of deeply hoping they do so we can verify ourselves.

The day before the event, Emma broke down. She couldn’t concentrate enough to do anything. The thoughts in her mind were too much to bear. She could almost hear a cacophony of voices trying to persuade her that whatever can go wrong will.

Jonathan found her on the couch, curled up as if willing the world to go away.

He touched her shoulder and she sprung upright, the tension having made her uptight.

“You wouldn’t invite a thief into your house, so why do you allow thoughts in your head that steal your joy?” he asked.

If your prejudiced things will go wrong, and you adopt a negative attitude because of it, then things are bound to turn into what you fear. If it is true that we attract what we believe and feel, it is all the more important to maintain an open-mind and a positive attitude. Life may surprise us in the end.

A wandering emerald

She had always felt like she belonged nowhere. Like she was an outcast everywhere she went. Her family would move places, towns, countries, even continents, ever so often and she had to learn to re-adjust her life from the start each time. That is what Gypsies do. And Esmeralda was part of that lifestyle.

Everyone wishes their life was different. More magical, more like their dreams. But she had grown up in the hardships of accepting what you have and not hoarding a lot more, so that she could carry them off with her next time they moved. It was their destiny and curse at the same time. A wandering people with no steady home. No roots. No homeland. They saw themselves as true citizens of the world. But others saw them as belonging nowhere.

Making friends was not that easy. People have a lot of prejudices and these are so easily imprinted in children’s minds. Despite her beauty and delicate manners, Esmeralda was often shunned by children her age. They saw her as unworthy, as if they were so much better. As if she was of a lesser god.

By the time she was 15, Esmeralda already knew how to maintain a house on her own. If she would ever have one. She knew how to wash, iron and repair clothes, bags and other useful objects they carried with them. And for her race, she was even old enough to marry. But she wanted more out of life. She wanted to experience the world, free of preconceptions and racism. She was the cleverest in her family, and from the time she learnt to read she devoured books quicker than she could eat a plate of food.

All she wanted was to be acknowledged. And accepted.

She wanted to feel she belonged to this world. To its entirety. Even if she did not know where the future would take her. She simply wanted to be free to make her own choices. Not to live according to the dictations of others.

She watched the sun set behind the hills, lost in her thoughts. She had seen many sunsets in various parts of the world. And deep inside she knew there were more to come.

Her brother Kappi called her for dinner. His name meant ‘good fortune’ and she wished that it would diffuse onto the whole family. As for her, her name meant ‘emerald’, because she was precious and unique. People just had to be open-minded enough to realize it.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Name that… You!

Also part of Daily Prompt: On the Road

Also part of Daily Prompt: There’s No Place Like Home