Those Kind of People II

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

A/N: My first ever sequel! Dedicated to Vipoul, who gave me this blog’s first ever request. A bit more romantic than the earlier one, but I hope you’ll enjoy it just the same!

Ps. I’m quite aware it’s called Islam and not muslimism, but I figured the speaker wouldn’t.  Anyway, Enjoy!

Janne Nielsen had had a crush on Zayan Hakeem for far longer than she cared to admit. It hadn’t taken long for him to catch her attention. Not only was he, at least in Janne’s personal opinion, extremely attractive with deep, dark eyes that always seemed to regard the world with an honest fascination, and thick, black hair that kept falling into those eyes no matter how many times he brushed it away. No, not only was he more attractive than what should really be allowed, but he was also extremely intelligent, though not boastful about it. That had actually been what had made Janne give in. She’d met intelligent men before, but Zayan was the first one who hadn’t seemed to think his intelligence made him better than other people. He was… humble. And sweet. And funny in an understated way. And a million other things, which all served to make Janne’s heart beat just a little bit too fast and the palms of her hand turn just a little bit too sweaty.

Palms that she was currently wiping in her favourite pair of jeans as she was waiting for Zayan to actually show up for their date. He’d offered to pick her up, but she’d declined; saying it would be rather pointless when she lived two blocks away from the theatre. Now she wished she hadn’t. Somehow she had ended up being there twenty minutes too early, and twenty minutes was really much too long a time to be nervous.

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Those Kind of People

~ mariasjostrand ~ 5 Comments

A/N: Okay, so this piece was written in quite the hurry! It’s about two elderly women having a conversation. I can’t say much more without giving away the story. 

“Would you look at them!” Bertha said, disapproval clear in her voice.

Lena followed her friend’s gaze. Not far from them two people were talking together, but that wasn’t what had caught Bertha’s attention.

If it wasn’t enough the two men were black, then they didn’t even had the decency to dress like real Danes. Instead they were dressed in what could only be traditional clothing from whatever third world country they had come from.

“Disgraceful,” Lena agreed with her friend. “We’ve been so kind to them as to let them come here, and how do they repay us? They won’t even try to be a part of our culture! They should be ashamed of themselves!”

“I bet their wives are at home right now, cooking dinner for them, wearing one of those things, where you can’t even see their faces. Don’t they realise how uncomfortable those make us?”

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Third Time’s the Charm

~ mariasjostrand ~ 3 Comments

A/N: Another 150 Words or less challenge! This one was supposed to fit the picture – do you guys think I nailed it or not?

Their first date had been a complete catastrophe. It had involved an escaped pet monkey, a black eye and way too much vomit. But he’d been charming and he’d laughed over his own misfortune, so she’d agreed on a second date.

Which she was currently very pleased about.

The little Italian restaurant was as taken directly out of Lady and the Tramp. That was minus the alley, the garbage and the singing Italian. A charmingly crooked table was standing in the middle of a pavilion, completely covered in leaves glistering with dew. Lanterns provided a feeling of fairy dust and adventures, and Susan inhaled deeply, imagining the air tasted like magic.

Everything was perfect.

At least until the fire in the lantern somehow got in contact with the leaves, and romance was suddenly forgotten in their pursuit to put the fire out.

Well, she supposed third time’s the charm.

A Locket

~ mariasjostrand ~ Leave a comment

A/N: Okay, so this was a challenge. I was given the first sentence to work from, and had a total of 150 words after that. It was fun, and I can definitely recommend taking a little writer’s challenge every once in a while!

The lock was still there, clinging to the fence, its shackle rusted from exposure.

“Just like us,” she thought, remembering with a cynical smile how they’d been. Her so trusting, and him so charming. She’d never had a chance.

“Here,” he’d said as he’d locked it. “This is our promise. We’ll be together for forever.”

They weren’t, but the locket was still hanging there, mocking her. How stupid she’d used to be.

Suddenly she felt two arms around her. Turning around she smiled at her husband, kissing his cheek softly.

“Darling,” he murmured, and she grinned at him. She could still cringe over how naïve she’d once been, but she’d been fourteen. Sixteen when it had ended. Thank God, she’d found someone better eventually. Someone worth a locket.

“Ready?” she asked, holding up the pliers.

He grinned at her. ”For doing something stupid and potentially illegal? Always.”

Oh, yes, this time she’d definitely found a man worth a locket.

A Close Reading of Cecily Cardew

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A/N: A Close Reading of the character of Cecily Cardew in Ocar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. If anyone is interested in reading the play, it can be found online for free.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is a humorously satirical play that premièred in 1895 at the St. James’ Theatre in London. With its witty dialogue and high farce it is as humorous today as it was at the time of the première, where the critical reception was positive, and the production was considered hugely successful. The actor who played the part of Algernon Moncrieff stated that “I never remembered a greater triumph, the audience rose to their seats and cheered and cheered again” (Moss).

The selected production for the extract chosen for this close reading is a videotaped recording from February 14, 2013, directed by Chris Kauffman Gettysburg and played by the Gettysburg College’s The Owl and Nightingale Players.

The Importance of Being Earnest is about two friends, who both live deceitful lives. Algernon Moncrieff has invented a friend, whom he uses as an excuse whenever he wants to get out of an unwanted social event, while his friend Jack Worthing has invented an entire new persona; his wicked brother Earnest. This is done so he can live a less than perfectly moral life, while at the same time appear morally correct to his ward, the young ms. Cecily Cardew, which, however, gets the opposite effect as she fancies herself in love with Earnest through Jack’s stories about his wicked brother.

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The Little Girl, Who Never Grew Up

~ mariasjostrand ~ 6 Comments

A/N: A short story, where I had a lot of trouble deciding on the ending – so let me know what you think!

Once upon a time there was a couple, who seemed to have everything. They were a handsome couple with a good income, and a charismatic personality. They were the perfect image of what a couple was supposed to be like, and this image only became more perfect when they had a perfect little girl.

The little girl was named Lucy, and she was in her parents’ eyes the most perfect little girl there had ever existed. She truly was a beautiful child with her lithe build and heart-shaped face, her rosy lips and her doe-brown eyes. She was a beautiful little girl and people would often comment on this.

“Oh, what a beautiful little girl,” they would say. “She’s the prettiest little girl I have ever seen. If only she were to stay that way forever.”

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The Wedding Shop

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

A/N: Another flash fiction! (Though this one was almost a short story)

There were few things Riley detested quite as much as the myth of Happily Ever After.

The idea that if only you met a man, your soul mate so to speak, your life would instantly become perfect and you would have nothing else to wish for. Well, perhaps a couple of children. Perfect copies of your perfect man. And because they were so perfect and he was so perfect, your life would be perfect as well. A little world of rainbows and sunshine.

The mere thought of it made her want to hurl.

Which was probably why a bridal shop hadn’t been her first choice as a job opportunity.

But it was 2009 and in the midst of the economic crisis you took what you could get. Even if you hated weddings, and your job was to tell a bride twenty times a day that she looked like a ‘real-life princess’. You had to pay the bills somehow or another.

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2384

~ mariasjostrand ~ 5 Comments

A/N: My first finished SF! Ever! I wanted to try something new, so I hope the result is acceptable! Enjoy!

It was the year of 2384, and there had just been yet another election. Yet another choice of leader.

Elisa Parker, a generally average citizen, had always considered herself to be sensibly skeptical of everything that simply seemed too good to be true, so when Bernard Summer had first started appearing as a candidate as the successive Head of State, she hadn’t believed his lies.

He promised to end corruption, to close the huge gap between the rich and the poor, to not let the wealthy make the decisions in his place. He promised that anyone should have free health care, and Elisa had looked down on her missing arm with a cynical smile; a souvenir from an explosion in the laboratory. She had been supposed to get a prosthesis, but for reasons she was never truly explained, that had simply never happened.

Summer promised that those kinds of things would never happen under his reign. That anyone should have access to decent health care as well as a decent standard of living. The same old promises, which every candidate came with.

But when Summer actually won the election, something most unusual happened. He kept his promises.

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A Second Chance

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

A/N: Yet another Rumplestiltskin/Belle story. Pure fluff. I do love them!

”We’re pregnant.”

And just like that his life was changed.

“What?” He must have misheard. Please Gods, please have let him misheard.

“We’re pregnant,” Belle said again and gave him a hesitant smile. She was happy about this, he could see. Her eyes were shining, and even though there was something fragile in her smile, something scared, his little Belle was being as brave as ever.

Unlike him.

It wasn’t the first time he’d been a father, and the first time it had, at first, seemed to come naturally to him. He’d fed Bae, changed him, played with him, comforted him, but when it had come down to it he hadn’t been able to protect him, and his son had died. Because of him. Because he was an awful father just like he was trying so desperately hard not to be an awful husband to Belle.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized. This was his fault. He should have been more careful. He should have protected them better. “Belle, I’m so sorry.” Belle was kind. Too kind to leave him for knocking her up.

“I’m not,” she said, catching his hand in both of hers. “I’m just sorry that you seem to be.”

“Belle, you deserve a better father for your child than me.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Who could possibly be a better father for my child than my husband? Whom I love? What’s really bothering you, Rumple?”

That he was a terrible father. Couldn’t she see that? His first son had died. He’d promised to protect him, but in the end he hadn’t, and so he’d died and it was all his fault. But Belle wouldn’t understand this. She’d tell him that it wasn’t his fault, that he wasn’t to blame. Rumple, however, knew the truth.

He’d had the chance to start over, to create a new life with his son, but he’d picked power over his own family, and his son had left without him. And Rumple had let him. He avoided Belle’s searching gaze. He might be powerful now. People might fear him, but underneath it all he was still the scared little spinner, who bent the head and begged for mercy. He was a disgrace, and he’d fought for years for Belle not to see that.

Except that she had. She’d seen him at his worst. She’d seen him grovel, beg for mercy. She’d seen him scared and crying and yelling. She’d seen how the power he cloaked himself in was nothing but a coward’s desperate lie. Belle had seen all of this and she still thought he would be a good husband. She had still said I Do.

He looked up and met her gaze. His brave Belle. Despite everything she might say, Rumple knew that he was a coward, but maybe Belle had bravery enough for both of them.

Do the brave thing and bravery will follow.

He gave her a forced smile. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother,” he told her. He was still sure that he was going to be an awful father, just as he’d turned out to be the first time, but by the Gods he would try to do better this time. This time he’d do right by the people he loved.

Missing Out

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

A/N: There’s nothing wrong with working hard. But there is most definitely such a thing as working to hard! 

“Andy, come down, it’s your grandfather’s birthday and you’re missing it.”

It was her mother’s voice, soft and relaxed, and Andrea sighed in annoyance. She knew it was her grandfather’s birthday and of course she wanted to celebrate with him, but last Wednesday had been her older brother’s birthday, and the Sunday before that had been mother’s day. Then there had been her parent’s anniversary, her grandmother’s get-together and the barbecue her father always made such a big deal. It seemed like her parents just didn’t understand she didn’t have time for such frivolous activities.

“Coming,” she yelled back; knowing fully well that her voice wasn’t as relaxed as her mother’s had been. Now or ever.

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