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Feb. 26, 2007 She was twenty years old and lived in a very small community on the outskirts of a small town. Her parents had raised her and her siblings on whatever they could pull out of the ground or kill. They were strange people, paranoid about the modern world and most all of its ways. She was the middle one of seven children, and growing up, they had plenty of freedom to roam the forests and streams. There was lots of work to be done also, but it was never questioned. It was just the way of things. They never had television, or a car, or any of the modern amenities. She never learned to read or write. There were times when some of the family drew pictures, with pens, pencils, or even a few old paints that came from somewhere. They were not like Mennonites or other religious groups that didn’t adhere to what went on in the modern towns and cities. They were just themselves. They were very rough, and almost savage-like in ways. Somehow, the girl, the middle child, a woman now, had found a path, long and meandering, that met up with another path used by hikers. One day she had sort of stole away and followed the path, and it led at one point to the top of a valley. Across the valley was a large gray building, and its size both frightened and excited her. She watched the cars go in and out of the parking lot. She watched individuals and families come out of oversized doors in the springtime, laughing, wearing sunglasses, and colorful footwear. She never went across the valley at first, but only watched. After about a year of doing this, she mustered the courage to go across and into the building. Everyone was so busy, that they did not notice her dirty clothes and face. She tried to walk purposefully and got to a small inlet on the second floor, past some snack machines. There were two chairs there, and below was a large swimming pool, because it was the town’s recreation center she was at. She quickly moved one chair away, into the greater hall, to lessen the chance of anyone else coming to watch there beside her. Here she watched, on that first day, and on many days afterwards, the swimmers. It was to become a ritual of sorts for her. Though she had no words to articulate what she felt, and nobody to say them to if she had them, she had strong feelings. She felt a current of sadness. This is what she had missed. Though she had swum in the lakes, this was different. She saw instructors, and neatly divided swim lanes. There were portable slides, and a large built-in one. The water looked blue, because the cement underneath was blue, but she thought it was actually blue. She looked at the blue water in awe. Sometimes she went down the way a bit, to look at the racket ball courts. Sometimes she looked at the hockey rink too, but it was the pool that spoke to her heart, always the pool. Jets of water streamed out of the walls, and there were lights built into the walls. At the other end, there were two stories of glass, and one could see the valley that she had come out of. She stared out through Plexiglas that had some scratches on it. She touched the scratches, and made friends with them. She got used to her spot, but never stayed for too long. She watched and tried to imagine the lives of the swimmers. She watched with brown eyes that looked out from behind long dirty blond hair. She had beautiful full lips and high cheekbones. She watched, and then she went, back to where she had come from, until some next time. Only her chair was there, plain by the white walls and the high ceilings above, and the slightly scratched Plexiglas too. ------------ Email Brian Michael Barbeito: Brian1750@Hotmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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