The Time to Be Yourself

The Time to Be Yourself 

Cigarette smoke was fluttering all around the room. A lean teenager was sitting on the bed, puffing the smoke of the long white ciggy. The blushing ashes were slowly flying from the kid, falling on the wooden floor. The face of the young man looked concerned. But what about?

The boy got out of the bed, releasing the fumes from the lungs. The face of David Bowie was watching at him, being attached to the nearby wall. Next to the poster was a wardrobe. There were numerous vintage clothes: floral shirts were peeping merrily from the lockers. A long beige pullover was taken out of the shelf. Now it’s the turn of trousers. The decision wasn’t simple: teenager’s mind said that white were the best, but the heart told boy that grizzle ones were the most beautiful. When the preparations had been made, the elegant man went to the mirror. With hassle in the hands and admiration in the eyes, he completed his look with a tie. The hand reached for a pocket and a soft little box appeared.

‘Do I look beautiful, don’t I?’ the guy said.

The mirror responded with a meaningful silence. 

‘Do you mind if I rephrase a… speech with you?’ 

The mirror responded with a meaningful silence. 

‘Alright, I understood you. Silent means consent. So, let me start… Hey, Maggie I… I… I…’ 

The silence filled the room.

The door was loudly closed and the thin figure of the boy appeared. He hurriedly went down the stairs. 

‘Honey, where are you going?’ was heard from the kitchen.

‘I want to walk at the park, don’t worry’, replied annoyed boy.

‘Alright, James, I will be waiting for you!’ sounded after the kid had already left the house. 

The weather was perfect for the first date, but man’s face was too serious to attract a girl. After a few minutes of walking, a beautiful garden appeared. It was an old-fashioned yard by the house. All of the flowers were trying to get to the Sun. The wind quietly told love stories to the tired grasses. The trees were gently rustling with branches, creating a romantic atmosphere. A young lady was sitting in the middle of this floral madness. Her skin looked as if it was made from the most delicate fabrics. In the velvet hands she was holding knitting needles. At her tiny knees was a grey cashmere sweater. 

Suddenly, James felt dizzy. The ground was spinning around him. It seemed that he had been falling asleep. The eyes opened and he found himself in the worst day of his life. The Sun was shining just as bright as today. The kid was wearing a long beige pullover and grizzle trousers, too. The girl was knitting at the same place. A little soft box was waiting its turn in the pocket. The teenager started sneaking up in the direction of the girl. He was almost behind her, when she jumped up from the bench and started shouting. The heart was beating madly. The girl turned around, but saw only a silhouette that was running off the garden. Having looked around, the girl continued knitting and sang a naive childish song.

Shameful memories started fading out and the boy regained consciousness. His minds was like a sharp knife — the first time in his life, he knew what exactly he should do. The words were found, confidence acquired, the tie was smoothed out.

‘There is no time like the present to present the present’, the boy said confidently. The hand touched girl’s shoulder. The smile of happiness appeared on the tanned face… 

P.S. This story is just 609 words, but the platform wants me to expand it to 1000 words. Considering it, I decided to write here about the story from real life that served as the prototype of this novelette. It begins with the lean guy — my friend Dima. Even though he didn’t say that he fell in love with a pretty girl, I knew it. When she was passing by, his eyes were burning with joy. Every meeting, he accompanied her with an affectionate look of love. And yes, he smoked long white cigarettes. They seemed to be his talisman, accompanying him along the difficult paths of life. He also loved listing to David Bowie’s songs. Especially to The Life on Mars? After several years of such “hidden” relationships, he made up his mind to talk to her and invite her to watch a movie at the local cinema. The cinema was in the vintage building that, from afar, seemed to be an ancient palace or an exquisite theatre. He knew that if he invites her, she will come. Dima took a bouquet of flowers and went to his beloved. Like in the story, she got scared. The date that even didn’t start was ruined. He felt under the weather. For him, the girl was like a flower that he tried to pluck gently to transplant it into new soil. But, as I said before, the plans were ruined and he didn’t know what to do to make the situation better. Depression settled into guy’s head. A couple of days later he decided to try again and this time everything would be as he planned. He went to the girl at school where they were teaching and said that he loved her and invited her to the cinema. The girl accepted the invitation. It turned out that their movie tastes were the same, so they had much in common. Now, they have been dating for almost three years and remember that accident with a smile. There is 49 more words, so I will thank you for reading and commenting this short story. I really don't like to write long stories, my average story has approximately 300-400 words, so 1000 seems to be a huge number. 12 more... thank you again for reading the story. That's my first experience in taking parts in writing competition.

Oleksandr Chernov

2021