Wednesday 11 April 2012

Juxtapose: #atozchallenge (and an earthquake report!)

We’ll have coffee-coloured children.
With extra milk.
And lots of sugar.
Bitter sweet.

She hated the way they were always contrasted, juxtaposed, as if showing off their differences would drive them apart. They always said he was too black, too ugly and she too fair and pretty for the relationship to work out. His insecurities will drive him to kill you one day, didn’t you know all blacks are murderers at heart?

She had laughed. Are you insecure, honey? she had asked. Only when I need to be he answered. And that would be? Every week when I collect the dole on behalf of your parents. It helps the cashiers release the money.

Her father had glared at him then. “Aren’t your parents on dole as well?” he had growled.

My father is still lecturing at the University.
Stop it, dad. Come on, let’s go.

They had left the house silently after that.

I wish you wouldn’t egg him on. He might hate you even more now.

I thought he was trying to make me prove my worth.


The more you try to, the more he’ll say you’re insecure.

Fair enough.

I think your ego is big enough, as it is.

Hmph.

They sat side by side in the car, worlds apart, and yet firmly intertwined.

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Juxtapose:
place or deal with close together for contrasting effect

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It's been an exciting day. If you haven't heard, there was an 8.7 earthquake off North Sumatra sometime today... and we felt the tremors all the way here (which is Penang, Malaysia).
It was 4-ish PM when I initially thought I was a wee bit dizzy (which isn't unusual, but more so than usual) so I put my feet down on the floor (I usually sit with my legs crossed on the chair) then I realised that the floor was shaking. I looked out the window to see if there was some sudden earthworks being done, when I realised that the glass panes in the house opposite were shaking. Yeah, so that lasted for a while. Someone said it was almost 5 minutes.
Later on at 6-ish PM, there was another tremor. We were in the middle of discussing the script when it started shaking again. Quite a few shops closed due to "tsunami warning" but nothing's happened so far (was supposed to hit at 9.11PM and it's already 10.50PM).
That's a good thing at least =)
Don't know about Indonesia though.

10 comments:

  1. I really like this. The tension is there, and yet there's an underlying hope that all these differences can be overlooked.

    There were some slighty shaky buildings at my part of the world today too.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Mel. :)
      Looking forward to the day these aren't differences anymore.

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  2. You created some striking characters in very few words - nice job.

    The earthquake must have been so scary! Glad to hear you are safe!


    Wishing you continued success with the A to Z challenge,
    Jocelyn

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jocelyn.
      It wasn't THAT scary - more exciting than anything. We don't usually get earthquakes in these parts and this one was pretty far away.

      Delete
  3. This is a great little piece of flash fiction - it reveals so much about the characters in so few words!

    As for earthquakes, I've experienced three major tremors where I live, and it's a sensation I'll never forget. I can't even imagine being near the center of one.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Li.

      I can't imagine being near the centre of one either. Just the tremors (or aftershocks, I think) are quite enough excitement for me.

      Delete
  4. Excellent piece. Hope all is well with the earthquake.

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    Replies
    1. All's well, Elizabeth.

      Thanks for dropping by.

      Delete
  5. Fantastic short, and I wish you well with the earthquakes. Hopefully the yucky stuff is over. :-)

    Kayla @ Bibliophilia, Please

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    Replies
    1. Hey Kayla, thanks for dropping by.
      All's well. No yucky stuff happened in my area, thank God.

      Delete