Magnum Opus
The Challenge
I got up shockingly early this morning wearing last night's mismatched socks and sporting my latest fashion of getting weighed down by the bags beneath my eyes, sticking out so proudly. The scent of hot coffee and the baguette my mother had already thrown into the oven awakened all of my senses. I had not even fully opened my bedroom door yet I could feel the smell of home close in on me. I creep up to mama and glue a warm kiss on her right cheek, loudly ringing in her ear. Sadly, I was not staying for breakfast this morning so I encouraged her to invite a friendly neighbor over, if only for a quick chit chat or a card game, hoping they'd appreciate the baguette at least half as much as I would.
My eyes wandered across my bedroom floor, through massive amounts of clutter. I kept my favorite pair of brown dress shoes beside my bed at all times, and my hand almost reached out for them. Suddenly, I had the biggest urge to do something spontaneous, as I discarded my primer idea and gently pushed my beauties under the bed, all the way behind the over-sized beige bedspread, caressing the hardwood so sloppily. This morning, I march in my Reebok Classics! I'm oh so unpredictable. I leaned over the rusty balcony fence, excited about the good weather, taking a deep breath. The smell of freshly baked croissants invaded my airwaves. There are a lot of lucky children in this town, and I would have easily been the single luckiest one if I were in fact a child. I am 21 on this fine day and I cannot say I feel much brighter. But I am lucky. Other women rush to their homes hoping the pastries will still be fairly warm by the time they get there and wake their youngest. My bread was warm before the bakery even opened.
I wondered if I should pick up the newspaper at the nearest newsagents' and just rush back home or just let my imagination take me elsewhere. I walked some fine 15 minutes before finally finding the perfect news stand, so richly stocked. I was looking for a place of my own, even the tiniest of flats and my eyes quickly raced over the lines printed in petite letters, as I tripped over my own foot on more than one occasion. Then my eyes tricked me and locked themselves on a large announcement, written in bold letters and framed with an even bolder design.
"CARTOON COMIC COMPETITION"
"Enter today with your comic book design and get a chance to have your work published weekly in one of France's most wanted magazines!"
I felt as if I'd been sitting for too long then got up too fast. Don't they know what this means? I've finally been challenged.
I treated myself with a pack of brand new drawing pencils and started dreaming awake. Au revoire, my common sense!
My eyes wandered across my bedroom floor, through massive amounts of clutter. I kept my favorite pair of brown dress shoes beside my bed at all times, and my hand almost reached out for them. Suddenly, I had the biggest urge to do something spontaneous, as I discarded my primer idea and gently pushed my beauties under the bed, all the way behind the over-sized beige bedspread, caressing the hardwood so sloppily. This morning, I march in my Reebok Classics! I'm oh so unpredictable. I leaned over the rusty balcony fence, excited about the good weather, taking a deep breath. The smell of freshly baked croissants invaded my airwaves. There are a lot of lucky children in this town, and I would have easily been the single luckiest one if I were in fact a child. I am 21 on this fine day and I cannot say I feel much brighter. But I am lucky. Other women rush to their homes hoping the pastries will still be fairly warm by the time they get there and wake their youngest. My bread was warm before the bakery even opened.
I wondered if I should pick up the newspaper at the nearest newsagents' and just rush back home or just let my imagination take me elsewhere. I walked some fine 15 minutes before finally finding the perfect news stand, so richly stocked. I was looking for a place of my own, even the tiniest of flats and my eyes quickly raced over the lines printed in petite letters, as I tripped over my own foot on more than one occasion. Then my eyes tricked me and locked themselves on a large announcement, written in bold letters and framed with an even bolder design.
"CARTOON COMIC COMPETITION"
"Enter today with your comic book design and get a chance to have your work published weekly in one of France's most wanted magazines!"
I felt as if I'd been sitting for too long then got up too fast. Don't they know what this means? I've finally been challenged.
I treated myself with a pack of brand new drawing pencils and started dreaming awake. Au revoire, my common sense!