Friday, February 17, 2012

Valentine's day

They were coming out now into the warm evening, the couples, everywhere Fehal looked. A young woman holding a long stemmed rose stood close to the man she was with. She twirled its stem as they  walked a little tentatively as though she asn't sure what to do with it. Apart from that slight  discomfort they looked as though they were cut from the same mould. The street hummed with the chatter of the couples, sitting at tables. Crowds lined up four deep outside the chocolate shop and six deep inside the ice-cream shop.

Fehal walked slowly, deliberately over the diamond patterned foot path, She noticed the man huddled in the entrance of the walkway to the supermarket playing guitar and arguing with the woman, who sat behind him and slightly to the side.

She walked past the shoe shops now closed and the cake shops still busy, past new love and old, around the corner and into the take-away shop. There was still some roti bread in the bain marie but she ignored it.

"Two steamed dim sims thanks"

 She tipped in some soy sauce and left. She held the bag tightly in her hands as she walked past the building site, the locked up community garden beds, the palm trees and parked cars. She felt glad to be moving awy from the couples and their rituals as she followed the garen path, past the angel fountain and let herself in through the security door. She put the bag on the bench as she  took off her shoes and strethed out her toes. The paper stuck to the first dim sim a little as she emptied it onto the plate. She took care to remove it completely before she bit into its warmth.