Thursday, July 01, 2004
so much for brilliantÂ
kablooey Jimmy had always loved the outdoors and what nature had to offer him. He loved the smell of the blossoming buds, delighted in the prancing of birds in the grass patches, but most of all, he favoured the pigeons that were scattered around the water fountain. He knew everyday was an adventure, even though to regular people what he did would have been mundane as he visited the park day in, day out.
kablooey He spent his time leisurely tracing the same path his own footsteps had made the day before, the day before that, and the day before that day. In his right hand, he grasped a crinkled brown packet of flax seeds for his only friends to feed on, the pigeons that resided in the nooks and crannies of the town hall near the park. His heavy steps as he drew nearer to the fountain attracted the attention of the inquisitive birds, as they fluttered about, excited at the arrival of the man who had individually named all forty-three of them.
kablooey The sun shone dully over his matted and unkempt brown hair. As he loped towards the fountains, past various glowing families out for an evening walk and benches occupied by courting couples, heads were lowered and voices were heard in rushed whispers.
kablooey "Suzy, don't go near... Abandoned... Dude, what a freak... Sad case... Family issues..." Pleasantries greeted him as he swayed his jutting hips to the left, to the right, to the left. He hummed a tune to himself. He raised a finger to his lips.
kablooey "Shhh... Secret song, Jimmy, you mustn't let anyone listen!" His eyes danced wildly around, as he continued conversing with himself. Precisely thirty pairs of eyes were warily watching him.
kablooey Jimmy came to a stop in front of the grey fountain. He cocked his face to the side, grinning lopsidedly at his friends. His tongue lolled out as he clumsily grabbed a fistful of seeds from the packet. Something was not right, however. Jimmy frantically pulled his hand out of the bag, wheezing at the realisation that no seeds appeared in his palm. He plunged his hand into the packet again, and again, but not before finally punching a hole through it. His hair swayed in the wind as he swung his head around, shaking it furiously. His eyes were shut tight, and he shrieked as his hands got tangled in the loose threads of his moth-bitten coat that hung off his undernourished body.
kablooey It was an ambush waiting to happen. The torn brown packet slipped out of his clutch and flew towards the pigeons, sending them off in a flurry of wayward directions. The sound of flapping wings broke the harsh and awkward silence, bystanders not knowing what to do, how to react. Someone stifled a giggle. The pigeons observed their hysterical friend mid-air, cautiously watching him make a fool out of himself even more as he broke down into sticky tears.
kablooey A "splat" resonated throughout the park. The pigeons still had business to do, regardless of the situation their friend had got himself into. Jimmy whirled around, bent at the waist, unknowingly stumbling under a pigeon about to do some serious business. The last thing Jimmy could remember was someone screaming, and a crowd of people gathered above and around him.
kablooey He pried his eyes open with all his might. His first thought was immediately of the pigeons. What was going on? He awoke to the beep of a machine, an IV attached to his arm and the sound of glucose dripping into his blood stream. Jimmy had watched enough over-exaggerated television dramas to realise what was happening to him. He was dying. Fear struck his mind numb, his eyes widening and his throat threatening to break out screeching.
kablooey A man wearing a green gown walked in, a mask hanging loosely around his neck. Jimmy wondered, right there and then in his simple mind, whether he was in a dream. His mother had taught him from young that boys did not wear dresses, that it was outrageous and "out of this world". He knew his mother had taught him well and had forced him to attend church, although he was constantly in his own world of soaring birds, big blue skies, and forest ferns. However, he had only absorbed the bare minimum of what he had learnt as a child.
kablooey The odd man stooped over his bed, and reached over to feel Jimmy's head. He shrank back in fear, wondering what was happening to him. He searched his thoughts. The pigeons! What had happened to them? Thoughts swirled in his befuddled mind, giving him a headache.
kablooey "Jimmy, how are you feeling? I have some news for you," the man in green grimaced at him. "I'm afraid some... Pigeon droppings fell on you, and research has recently been done to confirm that it is poisonous. You have contracted meningitis due to the yeast cryptococcus neoformans present in the substance. You will have to be kept here under strict supervision and observation. Are there any relatives of yours we may contact?"
kablooey Jimmy blinked up at the man. What had he just said? It did not matter to him as long as he could spend time with his friends. His head pounded, as he frantically struggled to breathe. Something seemed to suffocate him, as he writhed under the thin white sheets that covered him. He flailed an arm out as his eyes swam, knocking a machine down, and Jimmy felt sucked into a white hole as his eyes shut.
kablooey His adventure was over.
written by Ruth Leanne the Great at 7/01/2004 10:10:00 PM
