Dental Hygiene
Susie dreams.
She is attending her ex-boyfriend’s wedding, and he is getting married to her best friend. She is neither happy nor angry. She is hungry and is wondering whether it’s polite to eat even before wishing the bride and groom. Then she is wondering whether she has forgiven too easily, too early. Then she is wandering in this huge expanse of the wedding venue, lit up, crowded, with children running around as if it is a football field. She wants to catch the eye of the groom and give him one of her I-am-getting-bored-looks but he is busy shaking hands. She wants to catch the eye of the bride and give her one of her Why-was-I-even-invited looks but she is busy accepting cash-stuffed envelopes. Attention deficit, Susie decides it is a good time to throw a tantrum. She climbs up five steps to reach the stage and declares, “I am so bored. I am leaving.” Bride says, “No, we haven’t clicked photos with you yet.” Groom says, “No, you haven’t eaten anything yet.”
Susie says, “But I can’t eat, I haven’t yet brushed my teeth.”
Susie wakes up. It is ten o’clock on a Thursday morning. She has over slept. She must be starving in her sleep… yet she didn’t eat with an unclean mouth. She is so proud of herself. And so amazed at how a little bit of reality always creeps in the best of dreams and the worst of nightmares.
She is attending her ex-boyfriend’s wedding, and he is getting married to her best friend. She is neither happy nor angry. She is hungry and is wondering whether it’s polite to eat even before wishing the bride and groom. Then she is wondering whether she has forgiven too easily, too early. Then she is wandering in this huge expanse of the wedding venue, lit up, crowded, with children running around as if it is a football field. She wants to catch the eye of the groom and give him one of her I-am-getting-bored-looks but he is busy shaking hands. She wants to catch the eye of the bride and give her one of her Why-was-I-even-invited looks but she is busy accepting cash-stuffed envelopes. Attention deficit, Susie decides it is a good time to throw a tantrum. She climbs up five steps to reach the stage and declares, “I am so bored. I am leaving.” Bride says, “No, we haven’t clicked photos with you yet.” Groom says, “No, you haven’t eaten anything yet.”
Susie says, “But I can’t eat, I haven’t yet brushed my teeth.”
Susie wakes up. It is ten o’clock on a Thursday morning. She has over slept. She must be starving in her sleep… yet she didn’t eat with an unclean mouth. She is so proud of herself. And so amazed at how a little bit of reality always creeps in the best of dreams and the worst of nightmares.
Labels: fiction
