the kohl girl & her lime pips

bellmusker
Author: bellmusker
Word Count: 756
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the kohl girl & her lime pips

A full moon and scorching summer night make my muse playful.

She’s a frisky one.

If only flirtation could be this much fun, hey?

the kohl girl & her lime pips belongs to the following groups:

A New Aesthetic.... Divine and Otherwise , Blue Room, Lesbian and Bi-Women's Art, Melbourne & Victoria, Short stories - Spherical Scriptings, The Red Writing Room and WMG

This one had long lashes. Suspiciously long, in fact. Her ex-boyfriend had tried to defend his use of mascara by pointing hopefully at the bottle, as though his nicotine stained fingers would enhance his masculinity, and the label manscara would lessen her scorn. Manscara.

Ha!

Damn cowboys.

She couldn’t tell with this one though, not from this distance, so she narrowed her eyes for a clearer look. When the other girls had been coaxed into girlish roles during their teens, being taught how to flick hair like a Charlie’s Angel and pout like a model in a Robert Palmer filmclip, she’d been out the back smoking menthol cigarettes and headbanging to Guns & Roses.

Early Gunners, naturally. Nobody talks about the later albums.

So when she tried to squint at his lashes, she didn’t quite manage to be surreptitious. Other girls could have pulled that off; girls with matching underwear and hopeful cheekbones, who chose their own nicknames and refused to carry condoms in case it made them look cheap. Our girl didn’t care if she looked cheap, but it would’ve killed her if she’d looked approachable.

She just wasn’t the type.

But with one contact lense cloudy from both the smoky bar and her inelegant jab with the kohl pencil – she’d kinda missed the lesson in makeup application too, and you don’t want to know what she’d been up to that day, believe me – she managed to bypass the secretive squint she’d been aiming for and winked at him instead.

It wasn’t exactly a disastrous act.

Worse things had happened.

Even to him.

So when he took her act of feminine ineptitude as flirtation and sat down next to her, you couldn’t blame her for what she did next.

She reached out one languorous claw, one sage little spur, and went fishing.

His voice held a smoker’s cadence and a boy’s qualm, and neither sounded at home in his body. “Tell me about yourself.” He knew as soon as the sibilance left his mouth that he’d fucked up, for if our girl needs anything, she needs the path to her door swept in a sassy circle, not clomped in cliché. You could almost feel sorry for him; well, if he wasn’t wearing manscara. And possibly a skerrick of blush, which was kinda cute, when you thought about it. Either that, or he was actually blushing, which was even cuter.

She licked her lips, and started talking.

“I like hares.”

Silence. Those luxurious lashes blinked down at her; twice.

“I like the sound of the word Sassafras, and the use of the word delectable, but only in winter. Not too keen on the letter U though; it has wild eyes. When I’m sleepy I purr – like a tom, not a kitten – and when I’m ovulating I could knock down a small child for their chocolate. I’m allergic to purple and terrifying to Virgos. Thunderstorms make the strands of my hair ache.”

She slid the lime from her cocktail into the curl of her mouth and watched. He was no longer blinking.

“I love the name Liesl and the smell of lazy Sundays. I lick the salt from capers when I’m too frisky to cook. I have a scar on the sole of my feet and not a lot of trust in my heart. I recite Duran Duran lyrics in my sleep – except “The Reflex”, for personal reasons – and drink vodka made through bison grass. Gingerbread men scare me. Saturdays I test leotards for dance reality shows and most evenings I collect stray hairs and plait them into beak warmers for ducks. I eat raspberries in ice cubes, succotash in autumn, and cupcakes in the bath. I enjoy sneezing.”

She couldn’t quite be sure, but she thought she could see his mouth curling too.

“And I want a man who’s a straight whiskey drinker, a superlative cat whisperer, and an adamant Piscean.”

He found his tongue and used it well.

“Are you done?”

She thought she might be, but one more danced past the lime rind and sashayed out her knowing mouth.

“I also like corn. “

She spat a pip at him and grinned. “What about you? What do you want?”

The husky warmth now sounded utterly at home as he grinned back “I want a woman who snorts when she laughs.”

And she felt the cackle building at the back of her throat, rising up her nose.

© bellmusker 2009

  • Holly Ringland

    Holly Ringland

    well. that just about does it my girl of bells.
    completely and utterly speechless, i am.
    except…
    fuck, i love this.
    i didn’t know whether to laugh, snort or generally just fall of my chair along with my dropped jaw.
    i am obsessed with every single idiosyncrasy of our girl’s here and could not have predicted a better retort from the dear ol’ manscara-wearing cowboy. i am completely enamored by each character. i read this in one great big slurp and am now sitting back, fully fed, purring… like a tom, not a kitten… of course. and jesus, i loved the line about gunners.
    actually i just love it all. it was so worth not leaving the table for, for over two hours!
    this is your year of the duck and this is one mighty fine homage beautiful bell xxxxx

  • bellmusker replied

    The beak warmers were for you, my girl of the holly! I’m channeling the duck & learning I don’t always have to write about venom & regeneration, darkness & desire.

    Sometimes, you just have to play, you know?! But I did manage to sneak a cowboy in there ;-) Your phone call spurred the final few lines out in a joyous gush….thank you darling! x x x

  • Liesl Yvette Wilson

    Liesl Yvette W...

    Bell…This is just gorgeous!
    oh and hey especially the bit about the loving the name; Liesl! HOw can you not!

  • bellmusker replied

    I’m so glad I spelled it correctly! And how could she NOT love your name…it’s sheer perfection :-)

  • LittleHelen

    LittleHelen

    OMFG…I can see that Robert Palmer clip as clear as day…

    This is simply irresistable…and had me cracking up!

    nite Bella x

  • bellmusker replied

    I know; remember how hypnotising those women were with their swaying and sultry stares….but give me Gunners any day! x x x

  • CloudChaser

    CloudChaser

    fuck….this is really unbelievably good…..have to fave. ...what a writer…sheesh!!

  • bellmusker replied

    If I met a woman like this in a bar, I would buy her the biggest martini and just sit back & listen.

    But I do love the word Sassafras, hehe. Thanks sweetheart!

  • Liesl Yvette Wilson

    Liesl Yvette W...

    You would love to be here with me now Bell. I’m sure you, like me, love it when people look or stare at you wierdly as you cackle seemingly at nothing…whilst typing or writing furiously! I am chortling to myself whilst reading and the British, lovely demure little race that they are… always peer curiously at you from the corner of their eye and try despirately not to show that they think you’re completely insane! Pure pleasure!

  • bellmusker replied

    There’s nothing better than a good cackle when no-one else is in on the joke….except when it becomes contagious, and others join in without knowing why. So sweet!

  • Mel Brackstone

    Mel Brackstone

    This makes my face ache from smiling…..I’d just LOVE to meet this woman!!!

  • ArcadiaTempest

    ArcadiaTempest

    I liken your writing to a modern day Scott Fitzgerald…..this is exceptional. I felt like I was sitting across from these two. This woman had us on leash with her tongue! This is a keeper :))))

  • bellmusker replied

    Jesus, never heard that comparison before – and I doubt I will again! But thank you so much :-)

  • hilde

    hilde

    Manscara!

    I missed a lot of those lessons as well…..that, or I had my own perspective on flirting and putting on make-up.

    Anyway.
    I love this!!

    Big kiss.

  • bellmusker replied

    You have no idea how much this made me grin – a comment from my beautiful Hildelein!!! So, so happy to know that on the other side of the world, you’re reading my words & thinking of me. I can see the animal print chair behind you, imagine the snow outside your window, know exactly how many steps it takes to walk into your kitchen and make a coffee…..miss you lief x x x ps manscara!

  • Kim Buck

    Kim Buck

    Finding this at 5am makes getting up to go to work not so bad after all! You are extraordinary Bell… I shall reread and reread and reread…
    May the lunar cycle move extra quickly this month to perhaps encourage another appearance by the delightful kohl girl…

  • Luke Downes

    Luke Downes

    appetite for destruction was the first tape I ever bought, when i was 10…i still listen to it today…

    i know a girl – no, girls – just like her…and i love them for it

  • Lisa  Jewell

    Lisa Jewell

    The wait was more than worth it…..

    I drank this in as I always do with your writing….you set the scene so well.

    I too love the word Sassafras….the way it feels tickling off my tongue, not to mention as a kid we’d say SassssssyaFrasss (in other words shutup)…

    I’m a Virgo, I might need to be caution ;)

  • bellmusker replied

    I was thinking of you when I wrote ‘Sassafras’, hehe. And as for Virgos, I was trying out the signs & that one fit..which may or may not have had something to do with a certain ex-boyfriend :-) No offence babe! x

  • Rebekah  Anderson

    Rebekah Anderson

    This is great! Really great imagination and description. LOVE the random stuff! Well done!

  • berndt2

    berndt2

    Such a well-written piece. As a man, I’d be hideously intimidated at first, but I’d fall instantly in love with any girl who could say “I’m allergic to purple and terrifying to Virgos” Hahahahahaha!!! Brilliant 8)

  • Ash Sievwright

    Ash Sievwright

    Ha. I love this. There’s something about lists of random wackjob stuff that I can’t resist. Difficult to pick a favourite, but yeah, the Reflex would be hard to recite. If i was her, I’d steer clear of this nubbins – he doesn’t want enough. Yes, the heat does indeed do strange things. Ax

  • bellmusker replied

    Thank you! This was wonderfully fun to write; I just wish I hadn’t created her but could call her up for a night on the town – imagine the escapades we could get tangled up in! And nothing better than lists of random wackjob stuff, hey?

  • bearpaw

    bearpaw

    wow Bell, wow! i’m speechless….

  • bellmusker replied

    Thanks B, good to hear from you! x

  • Matthew Dalton

    Matthew Dalton

    Executed with feline grace; an early morning stretch that starts on the front paws and ends with a shake of the tail.

    I love the whisky-warmness; the wood-aged mellowedness of it. There’s a slow sashay of the hips and a finger that beckons – once. And then – dare or be damned.

    Early Gunners, naturally. Nobody talks about the later albums. Sassy scene setting at its grandest.

  • bellmusker replied

    Executed with feline grace; an early morning stretch that starts on the front paws and ends with a shake of the tail.
    Matthew, your comments could be uploaded as writing themselves :-) So beautifully put!

  • Jessica  Tremp

    Jessica Tremp

    so gorgeous Bell. your little tidbits in this are a feast for kings and queens…
    pisceans…bless them

  • Ryan Young

    Ryan Young

    i thought it was good after the first reading. after a second i think it’s excellent. tantalizing text…makes you yearn for such a conversation.

  • PJ Ryan

    PJ Ryan

    giggle

    brilliant xx

  • mstrace

    mstrace

    Well, coming from this Pure PIscean I believe there is nothing more full of ruby red claret than a list of about me’s and what I likes that fly over the heads of manscara cowboys in dizzying brilliant madness. One of my favorite words since I was a child was “Sasparilla.” This word was always beautiful to me especially when drawn out like a lazy southern drawl. Sasparilla.

    Bell…what can I say…if this is any indication of the amazing fucking shit you write when you’re feeling…er, frisky. Then girl – get you’re frisk on!

    however, the color purple, especially if dark, turns me into a wanton thing, hmm but beyond that…

  • bellmusker replied

    however, the color purple, especially if dark, turns me into a wanton thing
    Babe, I love the colour purple! That’s why I had to write it into this piece; I tried writing my hated ‘pink’ and really couldn’t stand it getting any attention, hehe. x

  • Enivea

    Enivea

    Oohh, what a summer I have to look forward to – suddenly it seems much more bearable if I can read beauties like this!

  • Matthew Lokot

    Matthew Lokot

    Wow, this is great! It made me smile, too.

  • Leith O'Malley

    Leith O'Malley

    Another wonderful little journey you took me (everyone) on here Bell… man, you know how to set a scene and inhabit the voice of some damn interesting characters with your words.

    Can’t you go and get writers block or something so I can spend more time with brushes and turps?
    You’re becoming an addiction my friend.. look what you are doing to all these poor hapless people hanging on your every word.

    On second thoughts, stuff the cold turkey (make that duck).. post another one!!!

  • bellmusker replied

    Ah Leith, the characters inhabit me, I think…at least while the ink is pouring forth! And this one seems to be lingering, I have to say…which will make for some very interesting nights out in Melbourne over the coming weeks ;-)

  • ArcadiaTempest

    ArcadiaTempest

    I guess I should clarify my comment…..I related to how in The Great Gatsby he was able to very quickly get the reader inside the skin of his characters…..like Daisy. Reading your work it was the same for me….....in a very short while I knew so much about these two people. :)

  • bellmusker replied

    I really appreciate your comment, Arcadia – I hope that came through! I’m reading Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast” at the moment, & have just read the chapters where he comments on Scott, as he called him. So to have this piece mentioned next to his work made me blush indeed :-)

    I think she took the pen and wrote herself, to be honest. Fiesty wenches; what can you do? ;-)

  • yt sumner

    yt sumner

    I love how her fear of seeming approachable is such a thin mask for the even greater fear of the joy of letting it all spill forth. Each detail was a scrumptious little delight, some so recognisable, some delightfully twisted on their ear. I loved being a fly on her frisky wall indeed. x

  • bellmusker replied

    Ah, the fear of letting it all spill forth….I certainly share that desire to be removed from people, but also the sheer delight when the walls are broken down. That’s why we write, isn’t it – to shine a light on the path we need to take, in some ways?

    And I had to go back and re-tag this, for I sensed a certain Brigit poking her head out of my pen again….that girl is a force to be reckoned with lately! x x

    ps hope you’re climbing back to the top of the world, darling Cricket x

  • Raven5

    Raven5

    Bell!
    It’s brilliant… and (not so strangely) resinates with me a little too much! lol

  • bellmusker replied

    Thanks Raven! I had so much fun writing this; I was almost disappointed when I had to let her go & add the last full stop :-)

  • friartuck

    friartuck

    It sounded like you were having a lot of fun there Bell. You must get sick of constantly producing such pearlers, eh? ;-)
    Planning on getting to the next writer’s meet. Any themes I need to be aware of…?

  • bellmusker replied

    Kloose, this one had me grinning as the ink flowed…always a good sign! As for the next writers’ meeting, I put a post in the forum last week; there’s a change in dates due to interstate guests though. Hope you can make it!

  • Steve Strodder a.k.a Saul and Cal.S.Heart

    Steve Strodder...

    ah bell your words really do fill many pages of redbubble just wonderfully, i like this girl i think, haha i purr when im sleepy or lusting.
    love the quick thinking cowboy too.

    although the mascara is a worry, the gay guys get all the good ones sometimes it seems…that said i do ballet and wear skinny jeans and im straight as a beam.

    great work bell i have only one thing to say:
    more, more, more!

  • bellmusker replied

    Steve, she delights me too, I have to say. And I think this particular character is coming back….once she gets the pen, there’s no escaping! ps thanks!

  • ellejayerose

    ellejayerose

    i think this is my fav Belle….
    see u thurs… if i get over my shockin case of the sniffles….
    i like boys with floppy quiffs, holes in their socks and pointy whoes that lace on the side…
    i like sassy girls who look all dark and broody and flick their hair when they get caught up in their own reflection, that jump on their beds and sing patti smith on the top of their lungs and that let everybody know just how much they are suffering when they are bleeding :)

  • bellmusker replied

    Haha, love it! I like men with greying quiffs & sexy wrists, who know how to play with words (preferably in another language too) and how to use them to tease me with style. And they MUST drink their whiskey straight!

    I like dark haired women with curves and a gap between their teeth, who smell like vanilla and have a lust for life that results in a laugh just this side of dirty.

    Hope to see you tomorrow, depending on your sniffles :-(

  • ellejayerose

    ellejayerose

    typo: third line ‘pointy shoes’ :)

  • ellejayerose

    ellejayerose

    oh wait… i just realised i am in love with myself…. hahahaha

  • Delphine de Noire

    Delphine de Noire

    Hilarious! :) Had me cackling like a regular witch! ;)

    Mx

  • bellmusker replied

    Nothing better than a good witch cackle!

  • LeaLoo

    LeaLoo

    wow. That was super funny. Write more, Write more. :)

  • bellmusker replied

    Thanks Lea! Those kohl girls sure do bring a smile to my face :-)

  • LeaLoo

    LeaLoo

    Mine too! well, at least now they do. =]

  • Leda D

    Leda D

    i adore this its just fantastic, i think its the best thing i have read on this site yet. thank you :)

  • bellmusker replied

    Thank you – what a wonderful thing to write!! That’s going to put a smile on my face all through my working day today…cheers! :-)

  • fullcirclemandalas

    fullcirclemand...

    oh oh and oh! and even more ohs! blew me away so many good lines so many laughs and little recognitions – i love the way you write

  • bellmusker replied

    I had immense fun writing this. Love it when I finish a story and think, damn, I want to meet her myself! Thanks so much, appreciate it greatly.

  • Sassafras

    Sassafras

    Well, I read this through silently , then decided to read it aloud. and I LOVED it each time.She had me just as soon as she uttered , “I like hares”. That and the fact that she likes the sound of my name. How sweet it is. Ha;)))
    Peace,
    Sassafras

  • bellmusker replied

    Hehe, you’re the first person to comment on the hares part – I’m not quite sure where that came from. And I’m delighted that you read this aloud; the kohl girl would be too! Thanks, Sassafras :-)

  • Pip Gerard

    Pip Gerard

    I adore your writing style!!!
    I’ll be back for more soon!!!

  • bellmusker replied

    Thanks Pip! I’m quite attached to this sassy character….she’s so much fun to write through.

  • rubyjo

    rubyjo

    love this, especially when she tells what she likes. sneezing- i thought i was the only one who enjoyed that. :)

  • nadine henley

    nadine henley

    brilliant! and such fun – and there in all that fun, some lines like girls who ‘chose their own nicknames’- – poignancy at its best. Another fav from me., Have you written a book so I can have all these to clutch in my hand and dream on my bedside table?

  • Shoaib .

    Shoaib .

    pure awesomeness

  • bellmusker replied

    Thanks! I have a fondness for this character…...I’d love to hit the town with her :-)

  • BiographyofRed8

    BiographyofRed8

    i wish i met a girl who said that.. hahaha, also i am totally up for snorting!! (only the laughing type of course) this is brilliantly and wittily written

  • bellmusker replied

    Thanks! There’s nothing better than feeling that snort build….pure bliss :-)

  • Priya ...

    Priya ...

    Words cannot express just how much I enjoyed this. Delightful. Punchy. Involving. brilliant. Loved it so very very VERY much. WOW.

  • bellmusker replied

    Thank you! I’m quite attached to this girl; she has her claws in deep with me, and I was laughing out loud as I wrote her into being. I’m glad that she speaks to you too!

  • Priya ...

    Priya ...

    I had to re read this three times today. Had to. Felt compelled to. Thought you should know that :)

  • Teacup

    Teacup

    Am speechless with this piece. The way you write is so intoxicating….I feel in a haze after reading this piece…. wish I drank wiskey – would be pouring myself one right now!

  • bellmusker replied

    Intoxicating is good!! That would make the lime girl smile indeed :-) Thanks so much!

  • math-ilda

    math-ilda

    My goodness, wouldn’t I love to have an answer like that to such a cliche question. Amazing! This almost reads as a monologue for drama, it would work that way. Thanks for sharing it with this small area of the world, you have left us all in awe of what you can create with your words.

  • bellmusker replied

    Such a lovely thing to say, thank you so much! This is the answer I’d like to give when asked that cliched question….I had so much fun writing this character, let me tell you :-)

  • animo

    animo

    utterly spellbinding. of course you know you left us wanting more!
    shheeesh woman you can WRITE : )

  • bellmusker replied

    Ah, this one left me wanting to write more! I think I like this wench, hehe…thanks so much :-)

  • loopyb

    loopyb

    Hee Hee!! Reminds me of nights on the town.

  • bellmusker replied

    Ha! I have to confess that I have actually uttered some of these comments on certain nights, when the honey martinis are flowing and I’m feeling cheeky…..a state you’ve seen me in many times, I’m sure!

  • Cathal .

    Cathal .

    Bell this has got to be the first page of something bigger ! Loved it. By the way, logged on to redbubble today because a “sinister little fucker” appeared beside me in the park and I now couldn’t agree with you more! This one had carbon stilts that made him bounce. I was itchin to stick out a foot and take him down for the Bellmuster!
    Anyways, the only disappointment in reading your work is getting to the end. Love it Love it Love it!

  • bellmusker replied

    Oh my lord, the thought of a sinister little fucker with carbon stilts seriously just about made me bring up my coffee…..they’re just like aliens, aren’t they?! A Dali painting come to life….and they think they’re so superior, looking down at us from their lofty stilt height. I need to go look at photos of kittens to calm down!

    Thanks for the comment Cathal – I get attached to some of my characters and this one in particular still makes me smile!

  • Eranthos Beretta

    Eranthos Beretta

    Being this is the first piece of yours that I have finally gotten my sloth self to consume I must say, I didn’t even realise myself, until reading about the cowboys rising grin, that a very curious and indulgent smile had spread itself far and wide across my cheeks :)
    Much to the amusement of my fellow office slobs, I even managed an instinctive snort at the end of the piece.
    Incredibly enjoyable work my dear :)

  • bellmusker replied 29 days ago

    I’m delighted she made you snort – nothing more I could ask for! She’s a sassy one, this kohl girl, and I have to admit that when her words spiralled out of my pen even my usual scowl was knocked out of place entirely. Kinda hope she sticks around :-)

  • Erika .

    Erika .

    and most evenings I collect stray hairs and plait them into beak warmers for ducks. ..HAHAHA! Oh this is my favorite line! I’ve never heard anything like this before! :D
    god, I love her! She’s so unique!

    I like…the use of the word delectable....For some reason this reminds me of you ;)

  • bellmusker replied 29 days ago

    Hehe, that’s my favourite line too! God knows where it came from…..think my muse was off her medication that day. So happy you enjoyed it, Erika!

  • Jane17

    Jane17

    You are genus to paint these characters with such offbeat charisma.. This story just drifts around you like a fog creeping up from the underworld-until your completely captivated by all the idiosyncrasies that weave together. What strikes me most is how much it comes at you in this manner, at so many levels.

  • bellmusker replied 29 days ago

    Jane, such a fabulous comment to read – thank you!! And stories from the underworld are my dark, special little focus; your words have put a huge smile on my face. Cheers!

  • IntriCate

    IntriCate 29 days ago

    Love this…. so alive and draws you right in. Of course it helps that I love characters that stray off the beaten path – real and fictional! Excellent writing, glad to have stumbled upon it.

  • bellmusker replied 28 days ago

    This girl stepped off the beaten path a fair while ago, it’s safe to say! And I have so much fun scribbling down her stories as she stomps around…thanks for the lovely comment :-)

  • Paul S.  Green

    Paul S. Green 11 days ago

    nice…....really very nice

  • bellmusker replied 10 days ago

    Thanks Paul! This kohl girl always brings a smile to my face :-)

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