The Roll of Thunder
Shouting at Lamps to Being a Doctor.
"I think you're living in hope." I chanced a glance as Tristan, raising one eyebrow expertly.
"More like contempt but I like your train of thought. Can I get a ticket out of here please?" he patted my shoulder with mock sympathy, shaking his head dully.
"Afraid not doll, the next stop is my parents house for dinner tomorrow and we both know how traumatizing that's going to be." I looked at him nodding my head but slowing with each tilt, until I shook my head 'no'. He rolled his eyes. "Lets just say I don't have a girlfriend, my job in an office won't suffice, and I'm still living in this dump, no offence." I looked around at the fairly clean room.
"None taken young Jedi. What's the deal with the no girlfriend thing though? Surely your parents can understand that with no running water and electricity you just can't help but look and smell like a shaggy dog. No woman in their right mind would look at you at the moment and think to herself: life with him would be heavenly. I for one would look at you and think: life with him would be truly nauseating, only if I didn't know the cause of your shaggy dog look." He was now pacing the room, rubbing his face with a hand covered in little drawings of stick men and even one or two little smiley faces.
"I appreciate that you put your thoughts in on that, but making people feel better about themselves definitely isn't your strong point." He mused, not even looking at me, but now at the non-existent mirror above my television. Non-existent because I'd sold it in exchange for the television after much deliberation that watching people make complete fools out of themselves on the screen was much better than watching myself pull faces at myself.
"I've been told that before. But I approached it with the same opinion as you did to talking with your mouth full. I didn't listen. I've found it to be invaluable." He kept pacing. "But back to your parents, why won't an office job suffice?" He stopped pacing and looked directly at me, his shaggy dog features reminding me insanely of what he used to be.
"They wanted me to do great things." I nodded silently, tilting my face to the side.
"They wanted the boy who likes to sit on the couch and shout things at the lamp in the corner, to be a doctor huh?" he nodded mutely, pulling a face. <p>
"They're going to hate me." He looked suddenly depressed and slumped into the seat beside me. I rubbed a hand across his shoulders in the most comforting way I could conjure.
"Didn't they already hate you?" He was right of course; I wasn't too great at this comforting lark.
"You're ruining my dramatics." He mumbled, shrugging my hand from his shoulder and turning to look at me. I stared back blankly, blinking once with my mouth in an 'o' shape. "You look a lot like a pig ready for its first meal of the day." He commented, a small accomplished smile settling on his face.
"I know, my stomach is ready to eat itself and my nose just spontaneously combusted and grew back as a snout. Not to mention the tail, you do NOT want to hear about that." He leant towards me, resting his head on my stomach as I fell backwards.
"Tell me all about it so I can trick you into saying things you don't mean to." So I told him all about my new found life as a pig.
"More like contempt but I like your train of thought. Can I get a ticket out of here please?" he patted my shoulder with mock sympathy, shaking his head dully.
"Afraid not doll, the next stop is my parents house for dinner tomorrow and we both know how traumatizing that's going to be." I looked at him nodding my head but slowing with each tilt, until I shook my head 'no'. He rolled his eyes. "Lets just say I don't have a girlfriend, my job in an office won't suffice, and I'm still living in this dump, no offence." I looked around at the fairly clean room.
"None taken young Jedi. What's the deal with the no girlfriend thing though? Surely your parents can understand that with no running water and electricity you just can't help but look and smell like a shaggy dog. No woman in their right mind would look at you at the moment and think to herself: life with him would be heavenly. I for one would look at you and think: life with him would be truly nauseating, only if I didn't know the cause of your shaggy dog look." He was now pacing the room, rubbing his face with a hand covered in little drawings of stick men and even one or two little smiley faces.
"I appreciate that you put your thoughts in on that, but making people feel better about themselves definitely isn't your strong point." He mused, not even looking at me, but now at the non-existent mirror above my television. Non-existent because I'd sold it in exchange for the television after much deliberation that watching people make complete fools out of themselves on the screen was much better than watching myself pull faces at myself.
"I've been told that before. But I approached it with the same opinion as you did to talking with your mouth full. I didn't listen. I've found it to be invaluable." He kept pacing. "But back to your parents, why won't an office job suffice?" He stopped pacing and looked directly at me, his shaggy dog features reminding me insanely of what he used to be.
"They wanted me to do great things." I nodded silently, tilting my face to the side.
"They wanted the boy who likes to sit on the couch and shout things at the lamp in the corner, to be a doctor huh?" he nodded mutely, pulling a face. <p>
"They're going to hate me." He looked suddenly depressed and slumped into the seat beside me. I rubbed a hand across his shoulders in the most comforting way I could conjure.
"Didn't they already hate you?" He was right of course; I wasn't too great at this comforting lark.
"You're ruining my dramatics." He mumbled, shrugging my hand from his shoulder and turning to look at me. I stared back blankly, blinking once with my mouth in an 'o' shape. "You look a lot like a pig ready for its first meal of the day." He commented, a small accomplished smile settling on his face.
"I know, my stomach is ready to eat itself and my nose just spontaneously combusted and grew back as a snout. Not to mention the tail, you do NOT want to hear about that." He leant towards me, resting his head on my stomach as I fell backwards.
"Tell me all about it so I can trick you into saying things you don't mean to." So I told him all about my new found life as a pig.