Violet CLM
Sep 2, 2005, 05:33 PM
"God, this place sucks."
16-year old Hannah Brisk withdrew her dripping foot from the mud puddle it had landed in. Her $400 designer sneaker was completely soaked and covered in black ooze, pink racing stripes all but obscured. A small cat face winked forlornly up at her from the side, all but its eyes and ears covered up by the mud. Hannah attempted to shake it off but only succeeded in spraying her other sneaker.
"Why did we have to come to this stinky jungle anyway?" Hannah asked, turning accusing hazelnut eyes up to glare at her mother. Sarah Brisk, Hannah's mother and sole traveling companion, sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"Now, dear," said Sarah patiently, "it's a wonderful chance to learn about the natural world while your school is out! Besides, look around you, this place is beautiful."
"It needs a telephone. Geraldine and Francesca back at home are probably charming half the boys in town without me there, and there's nobody here for me to even talk to."
"You wanted to go when I asked you about it..."
"I didn't think you really meant Africa, mother! Green Eyed Hobgoblins was having a tour, and all their concerts were named after states. I thought you meant one of those!"
"Africa," said Sarah, "is a continent."
"I," said Hannah, "know that. I thought you didn't, and meant Indonesia or something."
"Indiana."
"Whatever."
The two began walking again, Hannah glaring grumpily down at her mud caked sneaker, and Sarah looking at the greenery around them, only occasionally sneaking worried glances at her troublesome teenager. The trip to Africa had been intended as a sort of bonding time, so that mother and daughter could get to know each other a little better. Over the school year, Hannah had spent only enough time at home to sleep, and some nights not even that - most of her time had been spent either at school or off at the mall with her friends. Still, the beautiful jungle should be enough to charm even the most rebellious of hearts, and when Hannah calmed down a little, they could start having a wonderful time together.
First, however, they had to deal with more immediate concerns. Sarah called an impromptu halt and surveyed the river before them. The rushing water was at the bottom of a steep ravine, with slippery brown sides, just wide enough that jumping across was not a safe option.
"At home," said Hannah, "we don't have to fly over rivers, we take the bus. This place needs a bus. And a telephone. And air conditioning. And..."
"Enough," said Sarah, wearied, "I know, I miss home too. But we're here in the middle of an undeveloped wonderland, with another few weeks of it in front of us, so for now just be quiet and help me figure out how to get across this river."
"I'm not helping you with anything," said Hannah. "I'm staying right here. My feet hurt, I think there's a rock in one of my sneakers."
"So take it out."
"I'm not touching them! They're covered in mud!"
"Fine," said Sarah, "have it your way. Sit here and sulk, I'm going to see if I can find a thinner section or a bridge or something."
"Fine," said Hannah, and dropped down against the trunk of an old tree, backpack falling heavily to the ground beside her. Sarah began to walk off down the riverside, calling out to Hannah not to wander off as she went.
A couple of minutes later, Hannah was severely bored. She had not thought to bring a single fashion magazine with her, an oversight which she had already berated herself for a thousand times, and looking at those women in their beautiful outfits would only serve to make her hate the unappealing "practical" outfit she was wearing anyway. There was absolutely nothing to do here except walk from one place to another, and sometimes sit down.
Hannah leaned her head upwards and stared wistfully into what sky was visible through the vines and foliage hanging overhead. It would be twenty days before that sky would hold an airplane with her and it, gratefully flying homewards after this long and painful trek through the jungle. Geraldine, at home, would probably question her incessantly about it for a few days and then forget about it, because summer would be over and they'd see the Kasor twins again, and all other thoughts would be rapidly forgotten. Geraldine might actually like it here, but then, Geraldine was strange.
A leaf detached itself from the tree overhead and floated down slowly to land on Hannah's upstretched nose. It was sticky and smelly. Hannah snapped out of her brief sky-inflicted trance and got up angrily, leaf flying off into the grass. Even the trees in this stupid place were out to get her. She stood, already bored of sitting against the tree. What was she, some sort of tame lapdog, left to sit quietly while her owner went off doing the important work? Of course not.
"I can do, and am going to do, absolutely anything I want," said Hannah, and struck a pose, chin jutting out defiantly to her invisible audience. Somewhere a bird chirped, the only other sound besides the loud rushing of the river below. The chirp was totally innocent and unaffected, not caring about Hannah's angry declaration in the least. It was practically offensive. "Shut up," said Hannah, and stalked over to the side of the riverbank to look down.
The blue waters broke noisily against the two opposing sides, bouncing back again into the main current, rushing ever onwards towards some undefined goal. They provided quite a contrast to Hannah's current situation, slow and unexciting, moving in random directions with the only goal being to survive the next twenty days.
"If I don't murder Sarah in that time, or she me," said Hannah darkly. Hannah and her mother had almost nothing in common, despite living in the same household. Hannah had never known her father, as the man had run off before she had even been born. Since then, Sarah had focused herself on raising Hannah single-handedly, not bothering with such "artificial aids" as daycare. The only other factor Sarah allowed in Hannah's education was school itself, and until she had been old enough to go there, Hannah had been taken along to work each day, to sit by her mother's desk for hours, quite like a tame lapdog. The result of these rigorous years of bonding was that Hannah was thoroughly sick of her mother. Stupid mom, stupid jungle, stupid stupid boredom. Back home, being bored was almost cool, it meant you were cultured enough to not be interested in the culture around you. Here, boredom was just boring.
"Found it!" came Sarah's voice suddenly, from a ways down the river, and Hannah jumped in surprise, foot coming down on the slippery slope down to the river. Hannah's arms waved about in circles as she attempted to regain her footing, but she began to slip, other foot coming loose from the solid ground. Hannah gave a yelp of fright as she toppled down into the fast waters below, leaving jungle, Sarah and backpack behind her. Her head hit on a hard rock as she landed, and the world went dark.
16-year old Hannah Brisk withdrew her dripping foot from the mud puddle it had landed in. Her $400 designer sneaker was completely soaked and covered in black ooze, pink racing stripes all but obscured. A small cat face winked forlornly up at her from the side, all but its eyes and ears covered up by the mud. Hannah attempted to shake it off but only succeeded in spraying her other sneaker.
"Why did we have to come to this stinky jungle anyway?" Hannah asked, turning accusing hazelnut eyes up to glare at her mother. Sarah Brisk, Hannah's mother and sole traveling companion, sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"Now, dear," said Sarah patiently, "it's a wonderful chance to learn about the natural world while your school is out! Besides, look around you, this place is beautiful."
"It needs a telephone. Geraldine and Francesca back at home are probably charming half the boys in town without me there, and there's nobody here for me to even talk to."
"You wanted to go when I asked you about it..."
"I didn't think you really meant Africa, mother! Green Eyed Hobgoblins was having a tour, and all their concerts were named after states. I thought you meant one of those!"
"Africa," said Sarah, "is a continent."
"I," said Hannah, "know that. I thought you didn't, and meant Indonesia or something."
"Indiana."
"Whatever."
The two began walking again, Hannah glaring grumpily down at her mud caked sneaker, and Sarah looking at the greenery around them, only occasionally sneaking worried glances at her troublesome teenager. The trip to Africa had been intended as a sort of bonding time, so that mother and daughter could get to know each other a little better. Over the school year, Hannah had spent only enough time at home to sleep, and some nights not even that - most of her time had been spent either at school or off at the mall with her friends. Still, the beautiful jungle should be enough to charm even the most rebellious of hearts, and when Hannah calmed down a little, they could start having a wonderful time together.
First, however, they had to deal with more immediate concerns. Sarah called an impromptu halt and surveyed the river before them. The rushing water was at the bottom of a steep ravine, with slippery brown sides, just wide enough that jumping across was not a safe option.
"At home," said Hannah, "we don't have to fly over rivers, we take the bus. This place needs a bus. And a telephone. And air conditioning. And..."
"Enough," said Sarah, wearied, "I know, I miss home too. But we're here in the middle of an undeveloped wonderland, with another few weeks of it in front of us, so for now just be quiet and help me figure out how to get across this river."
"I'm not helping you with anything," said Hannah. "I'm staying right here. My feet hurt, I think there's a rock in one of my sneakers."
"So take it out."
"I'm not touching them! They're covered in mud!"
"Fine," said Sarah, "have it your way. Sit here and sulk, I'm going to see if I can find a thinner section or a bridge or something."
"Fine," said Hannah, and dropped down against the trunk of an old tree, backpack falling heavily to the ground beside her. Sarah began to walk off down the riverside, calling out to Hannah not to wander off as she went.
A couple of minutes later, Hannah was severely bored. She had not thought to bring a single fashion magazine with her, an oversight which she had already berated herself for a thousand times, and looking at those women in their beautiful outfits would only serve to make her hate the unappealing "practical" outfit she was wearing anyway. There was absolutely nothing to do here except walk from one place to another, and sometimes sit down.
Hannah leaned her head upwards and stared wistfully into what sky was visible through the vines and foliage hanging overhead. It would be twenty days before that sky would hold an airplane with her and it, gratefully flying homewards after this long and painful trek through the jungle. Geraldine, at home, would probably question her incessantly about it for a few days and then forget about it, because summer would be over and they'd see the Kasor twins again, and all other thoughts would be rapidly forgotten. Geraldine might actually like it here, but then, Geraldine was strange.
A leaf detached itself from the tree overhead and floated down slowly to land on Hannah's upstretched nose. It was sticky and smelly. Hannah snapped out of her brief sky-inflicted trance and got up angrily, leaf flying off into the grass. Even the trees in this stupid place were out to get her. She stood, already bored of sitting against the tree. What was she, some sort of tame lapdog, left to sit quietly while her owner went off doing the important work? Of course not.
"I can do, and am going to do, absolutely anything I want," said Hannah, and struck a pose, chin jutting out defiantly to her invisible audience. Somewhere a bird chirped, the only other sound besides the loud rushing of the river below. The chirp was totally innocent and unaffected, not caring about Hannah's angry declaration in the least. It was practically offensive. "Shut up," said Hannah, and stalked over to the side of the riverbank to look down.
The blue waters broke noisily against the two opposing sides, bouncing back again into the main current, rushing ever onwards towards some undefined goal. They provided quite a contrast to Hannah's current situation, slow and unexciting, moving in random directions with the only goal being to survive the next twenty days.
"If I don't murder Sarah in that time, or she me," said Hannah darkly. Hannah and her mother had almost nothing in common, despite living in the same household. Hannah had never known her father, as the man had run off before she had even been born. Since then, Sarah had focused herself on raising Hannah single-handedly, not bothering with such "artificial aids" as daycare. The only other factor Sarah allowed in Hannah's education was school itself, and until she had been old enough to go there, Hannah had been taken along to work each day, to sit by her mother's desk for hours, quite like a tame lapdog. The result of these rigorous years of bonding was that Hannah was thoroughly sick of her mother. Stupid mom, stupid jungle, stupid stupid boredom. Back home, being bored was almost cool, it meant you were cultured enough to not be interested in the culture around you. Here, boredom was just boring.
"Found it!" came Sarah's voice suddenly, from a ways down the river, and Hannah jumped in surprise, foot coming down on the slippery slope down to the river. Hannah's arms waved about in circles as she attempted to regain her footing, but she began to slip, other foot coming loose from the solid ground. Hannah gave a yelp of fright as she toppled down into the fast waters below, leaving jungle, Sarah and backpack behind her. Her head hit on a hard rock as she landed, and the world went dark.