Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Blog Post - Sahar Newman

"Weird" - Sahar Newman

"Charlie, you're with Princess." The monotonous voice of their battered English teacher dragged out.

Princess was fast asleep, her hood covering her face, her face covering her book, her hair covering most of the table.

Charlie's friends laughed at her while she rolled her eyes in annoyance. She just had to get stuck with the weird one, and not just that, Princess never does anything relating to school. It's a mystery as to how she managed to make it to the twelveth grade.

The project wouldn't be due for another four months, but their teacher insisted they start working today and everyday forward until it's due.

Charlie made no sudden moves to go to her sleeping partner, but her friends pushed her away to go work with their awake partners. 

Charlie scoffed; she didn't need them either.

As Charlie arrived at Princess's table, she stood about a foot away just to stare. Princess made no movements and you couldn't even see her face. Hell, she barely looked like she was breathing. Charlie's nose turned in disgust; she's not one to insult to your face, but Princess looked like a dead rat. 

The table next to Princess was empty, so Charlie decided to sit there rather than disturbing The Princess.

The project was to write about 3 ways to make the world a better place. A simple project, one that shouldn't actually need a partner, but the partner is supposed to be an antagonist, attacking their views and reasoning, showing them where they're wrong or how to over mine their ideas/actions. Princess would make the perfect antagonist with her dark sense of humor, angry voice and all. 

But, Princess would never do anything because she's constantly sleeping. For once, Charlie prayed she'd wake up and scream at the teacher again- It wouldn't be the first time- but no, Princess stayed asleep. The class would be over in ten minutes and Charlie couldn't even think of one way to make the world a better place. She had to think bigger than her family, friends, school, county or state. 

Charlie was annoyed; she got the perfect antagonist, yet, the most useless person in the world. Who decided that was a smart move? Shame on them, Charlie ranted in her head; she could think of literally nothing.

Out of desperation, Charlie used the top of her pencil to poke Princess in the shoulder.
No movement.
Charlie tried again.
Still, no movement.

Third time's the charm, were Charlie's thoughts as she jabbed the pencil into Princess's shoulder, hoping she'd survive the mental beating she was most likely going to get.

For the two seconds that Princess made no movements, Charlie was holding her breath, only releasing it when Princess sat up casually and pulled down her hood.

"Fucking finally," Charlie breathed out, her forehead covered with little beads of sweat, like she just saw the Devil.

But, the devil was just waking up.

Princess stared for a few seconds, mentally figuring out where she was before she turned around to look at the culprit who'd just bruised her shoulder.

"I-" "The next time you use an object to touch me, I'll make sure that I use that same object to gouge out your eyeballs," Princess cut Charlie off and said, in a normal tone staring Charlie dead in the eyes.

This should be fun.


7 comments:

  1. Please tell me this is part of a larger piece! I laughed so much, I can't even figure out which line is my favorite. I love Charlie's snark, she's someone I'd want to be friends with. Definitely the kind of character about whom I'd read a whole novel.

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  2. You've created in Princess the ultimate antagonist! A perfect partner for the class project. I wonder what Charlie comes up with?

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  3. Poor Charlie. We all have had to work on projects with impossible people, but Charlie got the bottom of the barrel. Except as someone who taught, I reach out in my mind to Princess. Why was she sleeping all day in class. Did she have anyplace to sleep at home? Was her home safe? She was angry, why? Great writing> I could picture the classroom and the students.

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  4. Just like Mim, I have so many questions about Princess and wonder how things will end for her and Charlie. I also like your characters' names (always a difficult choice for me) and feel that they are really fitting -- Charlie's got a bit of attitude and Princess is the opposite of what her name implies.

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  5. Sahar,

    These characters feel so real to me! You've created such a vivid and lively sense of the space they inhabit. I really want to know more about the Charlie and Princess. Does Princess end up as "the ultimate antagonist," as P. Hartshorne writes, or will the two end up bonding? You have choices to go many different ways with this.

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  6. Hi Sahar;
    After reading your short story you left me with the desire to know more . I especially would like to know more about Princess and why she is constantly sleeping in class. Great writing. Ihope that you will expand on this story.

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  7. Nice job...you are a great storyteller!
    I can’t wait to hear more...keep writing!

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