Marven’s First Novel, chapter #07

     One evening, a young woman wearing house clothes was standing before a mirror fastened on the wall of the living room of her house as she was tying a band to her hair at the back of her head and arranging her head. After a few seconds, she saw from the reflection her mother coming that way who addressed her saying:

     "Oh. Are you going somewhere?"

     "Yeah."

     "Where? At this hour?"

     She mentioned a name. "I just remembered I have to say something to her." 

     "Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

     "It can, actually." She did not wish to speak more.

     "All right. Take care, then. Don't take too long."

     "You know she just lives nearby, right?"

     "Still."

     "Fine. I definitely won't be long." Then she made her way to the door and said without looking, "Bye." She sped past their yard and went out of their gate.

     Her mother went out to the yard followed her with her eyes as she started walking down the quiet street.

     The young woman turned to a main road which was still quiet but illumined by brilliant warm lights from electricity poles and household lights. The people in that area are not fond of going out at night and even at daytime. They are more comfortable resting in their houses all day.

     She turned to another street; and after passing a few houses, she arrived at her friend's house. First, she stopped before the gate. From the middle of the road, the lights from the room upstairs caught her attention. It was her friend's room. She headed for the doorbell. But as she was about to press, her friend's voice, in a tone she never heard her use before, became audible to her. She recognized another voice as that of her friend's mother. She wondered what it was about and was able to catch a small part of these exchanges:

     "Are you sure about him?" the mother said.

     The question wasn't answered.

     "Come on. You're intelligent. I'm sure you can explain this. Tell me the truth. What do you really think?"

     The daughter croaked and then said, "I know he's someone I shouldn't prefer. That's the truth."

     "Why are you wasting your time, then."

     "I'm not wasting my time."

     The mother hissed. After a few seconds, she continued, "Oh, daughter. What has happened to you? It's very clear. As much as I want you to be happy."

     "I don't understand this."

     "Of course, you'd say that."

     "I just realized it doesn't make sense at all."

     "No. You, of all people, should understand this."

     "But why? Why not? Why can't I?"

     "You already know the answer to that."

     The young woman on the street already stepped away and started walking down the road to go home failed long before reaching this point of the conversation. "Fine. I give up. I'll just go back tomorrow. I hope she's just okay," she said.

     When she got home, her mother asked, "Have you talked to her?"

     She answered, "No, I haven't. She's not available."

     "Why? She's not around? She's asleep?"

     "She was having an argument with her mother. Why would I still talk to her?"

     "Ah. Don't worry. There's still tomorrow."

     "Yeah. That's what I said."

from The Simple Adventures of a Simple Simpleton

by: Marven T. Baldo