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#Post#: 408155--------------------------------------------------
Farrah in the City
By: Brina Date: June 5, 2017, 9:45 am
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A city in the fall: orange, red, and yellow leaves gently
cascade to the ground. Sunrise kiss the buildings in the morning
and at night. Kids run to their bus-stops early in the morning.
Then, with their friends, they tighten their lips and blow out
fiercely pretending to be dragons if they can see their breath.
Women in red plaid scarves, men in black wool coats that tie in
the front. No one lived here in they didn’t want to be watched.
Farrah didn’t have a choice where she lived. After escaping her
uncle in Lincoln City, Oregon, she had been sent to the foster
program. Somehow she had landed half-way across the world or the
country. She didn’t care enough to learn the geography. She only
knew that she was too far away from an open water system, only a
stale lake rested here. The tourists called it a ‘must-see
attraction’ and ‘beautiful’.
Farrah lay in the high grass of the park, watching the leaves
dance to the ground towards her. They reminded her of the
stalactites in the cave, reminded her of. . . A taxi honked
causing her to flinch. Taxis. They were like the dolphins of the
city: always moving, always communicating with honks, and
chirps, and occasionally shouts. They were more annoying than
dolphins though, and less compassionate.
She leaned her head back to look at the busy street about
two-hundred feet away from her. The bus, her school bus, was
coughing up to the street corner. She should go, she really
should go. Her body felt melted against the grass, though. This
was the only time she was allowed to be in nature, if she dared
called it such, and she only had this freedom because she told
her foster parents that she was doing an early school program.
Lies, of course.
A man walked by, scruffy and slightly smelly and Farrah froze.
Not because he was homeless, but because she didn’t want to get
caught. She had always been told she had young features: black
doe eyes, straight black hair, clear skin, a prominent philtrum.
She heard the bus creaking away, leaving the corner quieter, but
not silent as she would have preferred. There were always
suitcases running by, people yelling, people crying, couples
kissing, someone laughing. Shrugging her shoulders, Farrah
looked back up to the sky. It was her last year of school,
anyway. Plus, school had recently started, so it was okay if she
skipped this time. “I never was good at making the right choice
anyway,” she whispered to a vibrant leaf that landed on her
chest.
#Post#: 408156--------------------------------------------------
Re: Farrah in the City
By: Entropy Date: June 5, 2017, 2:40 pm
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Frantic breaths escaped between parched lips as a
haphazardly dressed man; or so he liked to be thought of, went
barreling down the sidewalk and towards the nearest bus stop.
His small backpack hung precariously from the crook of his right
arm while he sprinted forward and tried feverishly to pull his
jacket across his opposite arm. The whole maneuver was straight
out of a bad b-movie; clumsy movements easily mistaken for bad
acting, on top of darting glances to and fro at each alleyway or
walkway where another person could step out at any moment.
The boy; being only seventeen at the time, and hardly
seeming manly as he almost plowed through a small group of
gathered businessmen at an intersection, tripped and rolled
across the hot dry pavement and nearly slid face first into a
swirving car. Luckily the driver wasnt as absent minded as he
was, and the worst of his injuries was a rather scraped elbow
and forearm. After a great many derogatory words from the
motorist, and a few light laughs from the men who witnessed his
rather hilarious tuck and roll into the intersection, the boy
righted himself and momentarily took measure of his belongings.
His wallet still lay firmly in his right rear jean pocket, the
backpack once hanging by a strap from one arm had slid some
distance and rested on the curb nearby, and his black and grey
jacket was now twisted almost impossibly around his left arm and
shoulder. How it had come to be in such an odd position he
couldnt fathom, nor did he have time.
"The Bus!" He almost yelled, grabbing his bag after finally
fixing his jacket so that it wrapped around his thin frame
properly "Im gonna miss the bus AGAIN!" As if it wasnt bad
enough that he had fallen after running so far; being winded and
barely able to continue the jog onward towards the bus stop, the
young man seemingly lost his wits and ran towards a different
bus stop altogether. He cut across the intersection when he had
the chance; turned sharp left towards the parks exterior nearby,
and ran headlong towards yet another disaster. This time he was
simply too late; too slow after his fall to catch the bus now
turning away and leaving the corner he sought to arrive at. He
stood no chance of making it; the expression of defeat evident
on his face as he let his bag slip gently from his grip and fall
to the sidewalk beside him.
"Again" He whispered. The sudden loss of even a slight
redemption from the earlier fall left him shook and he couldnt
help but stare in astonished confusion for a few seconds. The
school was quite a distance away, and he knew whether he ran or
not there was no way he would make it in time; no way he could
possibly make up any distance or catch another bus. He thought
about waving down a cab, but he had precious little money to
make it through the week, and couldnt risk wasting too much
unless he didnt want to have food. All hope seemed to drain from
his features as he took a few steps towards the nearest bench;
kicking his bag along the ground as he went, and with a light
grunt took a seat. He stared blankly up at the sky for what felt
like forever to him; his eyes beginning to water as he forced
himself to bathe in the heat and light that nearly blinded him,
and when he had finally caught his breath and once more found
some sort of calm in the mental storm raging, he looked around.
At least it wasnt too cold out yet; a small flower of hope
blooming beneath the despair that recently rocked him, and
perhaps he could afford a day without the constant hassle of
school. The idea definitely wasnt a bad one; the tortures of
class and classmated who were often impish and ignorant was
something Alex was loathe to deal with at that moment. He felt a
slow creeping wealth of confusing joy spread over him as he
second by second blew off even attending school today. "Forget
it... Not like I NEED to go anyways" He said under his breath.
"After all, I could pass those classes while in a coma" He
laughed
Things were looking a bit brighter; the scenery of the small
park and whisper of the wind through fallen leaves lightening
his mood moment by moment, and before he realized it, Alex was
honestly happy to have missed the bus again. He had a whole day,
nothing to do, nowhere to be, and not a care in the world at
that moment.
"What should I do then" He thought aloud. A bit louder than
he realized as a few passing people gave him a confused glance
and kept walking...
#Post#: 408167--------------------------------------------------
Re: Farrah in the City
By: Brina Date: June 7, 2017, 9:21 am
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Farrah closes her eyes and dreamt of the sea. She does not dream
of the water she used to overlook in Oregon where her uncle
lives, no. She remembers her home, her first home, where her
father currently spends his day half conscious at bars and her
mother’s soul lives in the water: Scotland. She remembers her
mother’s arms wrapped around her as they walked foot by foot
into the water, learning how to swim, to not be afraid. If she
concentrates hard enough she could almost make the lake nearby
smell like the sea. Even that constant traffic tries to mimic
the hiss of the water against the rock. Almost. The city is
clumsy and cluttered and no place for her.
Her daydreams are interrupted by a commotion to her right. She
kept her eyes closed allowing her mind to picture the scene
around her. A scuffle: she imagined a drunk man stumbling down
the street or two men brawling. Always men, always clumsy. Even
in the city the women had a catlike sense about them in which
they tenderly stepped around obstacles. They weren’t as precise
as people in the country, the hunters, but they were better than
the unaware men that stampeded to their destinations. Laughter:
probably not a brawl, potentially still a drunk man. . .
A siren nearby cut her off from the clumsy being and caused her
to jump. Just as she was about to fall back to her daydreams she
heard the lackluster stomps of a human being. The shuffle-scuff
of shoe dragged against pavement, the murmurs of discontent.
Farrah peeked one eye open out of curiosity and to ensure no one
was trying to creep up on her.
She saw a boy placed about thirty feet from her; a place for
joggers to rest, or the elderly to people watch, or the homeless
to sleep. Now she opened both eyes and squinted them a bit. He
felt familiar somehow, young just like her.
It clicked. She remembered seeing him shoved into a locker by
the school bully, Logan. Vividly, she remembered the brightness
of his face, the crinkle of his nose as though baring his teeth.
This boy, though, was an underdog. The bullies knew he would
never actually fight back, he was too concerned about his
grades, his future. The only way the bullies would stop would be
if he defeated them, showed dominance. That’s how the sea lions
sorted out their business, that’s how the hunters come out on
top. Dominance. This boy lacked it. She didn’t even know his
name.
Farrah, however, when she decided to go to school, held her
head high. She had transferred in last year and didn’t talk to
anyone which retained her new girl polish. She was pretty enough
to avoid taunts, and when teachers asked her questions, people
heard her Scottish accent, which seemed to be an instant power
in America. Accents, who knew it would give her such power?
Farrah watched the boy for a moment longer. She wasn’t about to
go approach him. He was probably getting his sea-legs to this
whole ‘skipping school’ business. In fact, she half expected him
to catch his breath and go running towards the school. Farrah
chuckled to herself quietly and laid back down in the nest of
fallen leaves, wishing for Scotland.
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