some peace from over the fence
I wrote most of this on a train journey and just found it again tucked in with my train ticket and travel documents. I wasn’t pleased with it when I wrote about it, but distance brings understanding.
some peace from over the fence belongs to the following groups:
! Creative Writing & Poetry !, All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical, Graphic Scratch, Lesbian and Bi-Women's Art and WMGthwack, creak, thwack, creak, thwack, creak, creak, creak
Deleila listened intently to the noise flying over the back fence and in through her kitchen window.
It had been the same noise every afternoon since the little girl’s birthday, she and the little boy had been out practicing every day -although mainly just trying to knock each others’ heads off and avoid tangling the string.
It had bugged her at first, but now Deleilah found herself sitting at the table in anxious anticipation. Her chipped nails grasped around the chipped mug, only relaxing once the repetitive thud and groan started.
thwack, creak, thwack, creak, creak, creak, thwack
She knew there were shouts and laughter that floated in amongst the repetitive reassurance – but she filtered that hapiness from her ears. Just like she had filtered it from her heart.
Once she was satisfied the soothing rhythm had taken up and was going nowhere she lit the cigarette lying on the table. She inhaled – always conscious of the poison and evil in the air, but always able to justify that everything she blew out was so much worse.
She paused, collected…
thwack, thwack, thwack
... then blew. Just gently, but enough to empty all that was rusting inside her, and the smoke as well.
The cloud caught her eye and stung. A tear slipped and slid its way down her empty cheek. Deleilah caught it on her finger and examined it, almost confused. Tears had become a long forgotten purge. She licked her finger – savouring the salty emotion.
creak, thwack, creak, creack, thwack
She continued to inhale and expel until a sharp pain on her finger tips told her that she was at the end of the release. She crushed the shrivelled butt into a well-cleaned but well-used dish and closed her eyes.
thwack, thwack
breathe in, breathe out
thwack, thwack
breathe in, breathe out
She drew the mug to her chest savouring the dull burn that the hot china left on her chest – warming her heart in the moment.
Sometimes it was all she could do to remember to breathe in and out. She was often thankful that a beating heart was in involuntary action, or she might forget to do that too.
thwack, thwack, creak, creak, creak, thwack, thwack
’’dinner’‘
Her grip tightened, her breath caught in her throat.
thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack
The pace increased.
“DINNER”
thwack, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak…creak…creak….creak…....creak
A moment passed.
creak
Deleilah forced the mug to be lowered to the table.
Deleilah forced her fingers to release the mug, one by one, and placed her hands on the table.
Staring at her chipped fingers Deleilah forced herself to breathe.
breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breath out
She knew the peace would come again tomorrow, regular like the postman and his bills.
Lisa Jewell
Exceptional writing….I held my breath through it and yes, I had to remind myself to breathe.xx
fillette
Thanks Lisa, I hope you didn’t end up blue reading this! xx