A little bit mad. (1)
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Her face had been an impregnable mask; you'd get nothing out of it, zilch. That was before; all the layers came off slowly, one by one.
"You know when you get the mean reds?" She opened the back door, and threw her handbag to the other end of the seat.
"Mean reads…you mean like the blues?" He watched with increasing bemusement as she plunked herself on the leather seats. He really didn't seem to feature in her realm of things at the moment, except when she needed responses to her bizarre questions. She shut the door firmly, her tense body relaxing immediately as it hit the comfortable seats.
"No, blues …your just sad that's all…the mean reads a horrible one. Suddenly you are afraid, and you don't know what you are afraid of! Do you ever get that feeling?"
"Sure" It was a lie; he did not have a clue. But he sure was intrigued; she looked a little dazed, and even slurred a little. Was she some movie freak, who loved to play act? He looked down on his phone, no new messages or missed calls, meant he had some time. Still unsure, he paused briefly before he turned around and asked her, "So, where do you want to go?"
She scoffed at him, "You don't know?" The idea seemed absurd to her.
He merely shook his head.
"I always go there when I'm sad" She mused sadly, and closed her eyes as if she was drowning in sleep.
He sat there unsure what to do. She was dressed decently, and didn't appear to have harmful intentions but then looks could be deceiving he reminded himself.
But what the hell, where does she want to go?
Then she spoke with her eyes closed completely oblivious to his dilemma just lost in her own world…a web of words, "Calms me down right away, the quietness of the place… Nothing bad could ever happen there…"
"Are you sad?" He asked her out of curiosity.
"No, I don't have the blues…"
"Ahh…yes", he put on his seatbelt," The mean reds?" He looked at her for a confirmation, and noted a faint movement of her head, "which means, you are more than sad…" he paused momentarily, trying to think of the right word, "devastated then?"
She mumbled incoherently, "something like that…" Then almost as if that was some hidden cue, she straightened up a little clumsily, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the lights outside, "why aren't we moving yet?"
"Right away Princess" Only he wasn't sure, where to exactly. "Tell me something?" he talked as he drove them out of the quiet residential neighborhood scattering autumn leaves as they picked up speed.
"People that can't handle alcohol, shouldn't drink"
" I'm not drunk, just …"
"Just?" He watched her through the mirror, as she struggled with the right response, her tiny nose scrunched in a peculiar way.
"Do you always talk so much?" No he wasn't going to stop asking questions, she'd just have to come around to it.
"That depends…" He didn't bother with the rest, knowing she wouldn't bother either way. Instead, he was right back at it, "Is that a beauty nap or something?"
She chuckled. There was silence for a while.
"I'll take that for a no then" He smiled for the first time. "So where to…?" he stopped at the light, and turned around again, "I don't even know where you want to go?"
"Where I always go….where everybody…wait, wait…" she stared intently at something on her thumb as if trying to remember the right words before finishing off with, "where nobody knows my name" And smiled. It was the first time; he'd seen her do that.
Clearing away that little distraction he carried on, "Do you always talk like that?"
"Like what?"
"You know…" he was surprised to see her take out a cigarette and dump the contents of her handbag on the expensive seats when she couldn't find the lighter.
"Don't even think about it" He warned her. She put the cigarette away. He found it odd how she obeyed him without any protest? This woman was weird, but weird in a weirdly amusing way. He mused. He was distracted by the ring of his cell phone, "Hello"
By the time, he was done with the call. She was back to being lost again. And that dazed look was back on her face. He was a little concerned to see that pale streak return, she looked much better when she rattled off senselessly he thought.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Are we there yet?" She replied.
He sighed; it was going to be a long night. He could see through the mirror, those droopy eye-lids meant, she was really drowning in sleep this time.
"The mean reds are back eh?" He wanted to keep this conversation going, to keep her awake, for as long as he could.
"It is" she stilled, "I got fired today"
"Oh come on, that's not the end of the world"
She chuckled.
"That doesn't sound like the mean reds; you know…more like bright yellows"
And then she did it again, "Take the next right, and stop at the pier"
Edited by olive.green - 14 years ago
Cricket
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