GOODBYE…
“Come on C, I am sure you’ll push through it! It’s just a matter of distance, we are going to be your best friends forever, no matter what, right?” The invasive confidence in Joe’s voice did not reflect in his eyes, though…
“Yeah...I guess…” She was confused, sad and upset; but most of all, she never in a million years would have wanted to leave her two best friends. Suddenly, and quite randomly, Katy jumped under her king sized bed that dominated that upper-class teenager’s bedroom, and, humming one of her stupid jingles, in a second was back on the bed, bouncing up and down from the jump. Before Coraline could even realize it, Katy was gently putting in her hands a bag of yellow pills, and slowly guiding her fingers to close around it. She looked at her, the whole universe seemed to stop for a moment, until that trance was interrupted by Joe’s laughter, higher and faster than usual.
“Why that face C? Don’t you trust your best friends? Don’t just think of those as pills, they are a portal to your own shelter. We know how hard it will be for you to put up with your new life, see this as a little help by your Joe and Katy! Whenever you’ll feel down or left alone, just shove a couple of them down and enjoy the journey!”
Coraline couldn’t interpret the overwhelming wave of feelings that was suddenly surfing her guts, she was scared, sad, but also somewhat relieved.
“Joe’s cousins tried them last week and said they are bomb! You might as well give them a shot, am I right C?” They were acting so confidently, but their lifelong friendship couldn’t hide to Coraline’s eyes her friends’ concern and fear in giving her those “pills”. Thus, to contrast her friends’ insecurity, she inhaled a deep breath, and, raising her chin a little, brusquely put the sack in her jeans pockets, without saying a word.
MR. BOBINSKY
Soon as her mom pushed the key into the lock, she felt cold chills going down her spine; she remembered her IPod lay into her coat pocket since the day before, it was something to get away from there, at least with her mind. Her parents started immediately to move the furniture around, carrying huge boxes from the car to the hall, screaming to each other what not to do with the “fragile” ones, and yelling at her, complaining about her not helping. In response, Coraline turned the volume up at the maximum level, making sure no external sound reached her ears, and stomping her feet, got out of the house, into the neighborhood wilderness. There were two houses next to hers, and one that was quite far from the others, all the way down the road. The first door she bumped into had a gold label on the front, citing “Mr. Bobinsky”. She instinctively knocked, despite her unwillingness to talk to anyone but herself. As soon as the door opened, a rat community crushed around her and, before she could even scream, she saw a gigantic shadow rising on top of her head: “Who are you girl, disturbing Mr. Bobinsky during his afternoon nap?”
“Oh...I-I am sorry...ehm.” She now realized the Russian accent in his words. Queer. “I am Coraline, I just moved in the house next to yours with my family”
She felt something weird crawling upon her leg, but it took her a while to figure out what it was, forgetting to be surrounded by dozens of mice. As soon as her sight met those disgusting animals climbing up her jeans, into her front pocket, she started jumping all around, screaming and slamming her leg with both hands.
“I am so sorry, girl, they are very tamed, it never happens…” his gaze upon her was heavy, unwanted. “Do you maybe have some cheese in that pocket?”
She touched her left front pocket, feeling that bumpy mass underneath it. “Shit, I almost forgot about them” she said to herself, shivering.
“N-No, I mean, I don’t know...I have to go.” Gazing the ground, she stepped back from that Mr. Bobinsky and, at a steady pace, walked towards the next door.
MS. FORCIBLE AND MS. SPINK
The door next to Mr. Bobinsky’s was small, very small, and pink. Hanging in the front stood a metal plate in the shape of a dog’s face, gazing piercingly at her. Still labored from the rush, she took a deep breath, and knocked.
“Oh hiiii deeeeaaar! You must be the new girl...Caroline? I am Ms. Forcible” The fat, sweaty woman stared at her, her look almost as annoying as her high-pitched voice.
“It’s C-O-raline”
From behind that huge woman she heard another voice, lower and warmer.
“Who is iiiit?”
“Oh come,come, it’s C-O-raline, our new neighbor!”
“Oh hello darling, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Ms. Spink. We have heard so much about you!”
Coraline was perplexed, “How come you heard of me? I though my parents told no one in the neighborhood that we were moving in…” She was bold, too bold sometimes.
“Oh, the tea told us” Ms. Forcible’s tone was the one of who is saying something obvious.
“The what?”
“Come in Ca-uhm-Coraline, we want to show you something”
The house smelled like candy, it sadly reminded her of her childhood. As soon as she stepped in, she heard barking all over the living room, and in a matter of seconds, from each and every corner of that room peaked out dozens of dogs. She got freaked out at first, but in a matter of seconds, she started to find the thing quite amusing.
“Here honey, sit, sit”
She sat at a little round table, squeezed between the two women. Apparently, they just finished drinking tea, and in one of the two cups, little grains of tea powder lay on the bottom.
“Here Coraline, look” The tea grains were laying in several round shapes. She still couldn’t find the purpose of it.
Ms. Forcible grabbed the cup and, with no sign of hesitation, she cleared her chubby throat and began telling her future.
“Oh girl! I see…I see something horrible! Are you allergic to beans??” Coraline shuddered at the words of that lady, now that she thought about it, those grains looked just like her…
“Oh shut up, what are you talking about? Give it to me! These are clearly peas honey. Are you planning on eating peas tonight? Cause in case you are, you definitely should not do it! Oooh what horrible things I see caused by these peas…” Ms. Spink was terrified.
In Coraline’s mind a thousand of thoughts were suddenly crashing onto each other. She stood up from the nasty couch she had been placed on, said thanks to the ladies and, once again, rushed to the door and ran away.
LONELINESS.
Next to her new-met neighbor ladies’ house, she found a fence low enough so she could sit on it. Her thoughts were so confused, she felt dizziness overwhelming not only her mind, but her body. Coraline fell sitting on the fence, powerless, and began to cry. Through that river of tears, she managed to see a motorbike all the way down the road. There was a guy standing next to it. She remembered her mom telling her about this guy Wibie, who lived alone with his grandmother in their new neighborhood. Suddenly, she felt alone. Desperately alone. She wondered if he noticed her, and answered herself that he surely didn’t. She felt sad, abandoned by everyone in her life. She reached her front pocket, and took out that package. In her head hundreds of contrasting feelings and thoughts.
She wants to take the pills. She needs to take the pills. But then, what would the mice say? And Ms. Forcible and Ms. Spink? Why does that feel so wrong? She WANTS to get to the other world, to that world where she’ll feel beloved and she’ll finally stop having that horrible sense of loneliness, oddness and carelessness that she felt since the day she was borne. Her hands shaking, her legs laying on the bench, powerless. She looked at those pills; in her head now one single thought left: what would her parents say? Will they be happy to know that their daughter seeks shelter in another world? Maybe they’d wish she got stuck in that world, to not have to take care of her anymore. She’d be happy there. And she’d be weightless for this world. So her parents would be happy too, right? Knowing that I’m okay… do they care if I’m okay?
There she stood, sitting hunched on a dirty fence, our lonely girl, Coraline, with her little sack of pills.
“Come on C, I am sure you’ll push through it! It’s just a matter of distance, we are going to be your best friends forever, no matter what, right?” The invasive confidence in Joe’s voice did not reflect in his eyes, though…
“Yeah...I guess…” She was confused, sad and upset; but most of all, she never in a million years would have wanted to leave her two best friends. Suddenly, and quite randomly, Katy jumped under her king sized bed that dominated that upper-class teenager’s bedroom, and, humming one of her stupid jingles, in a second was back on the bed, bouncing up and down from the jump. Before Coraline could even realize it, Katy was gently putting in her hands a bag of yellow pills, and slowly guiding her fingers to close around it. She looked at her, the whole universe seemed to stop for a moment, until that trance was interrupted by Joe’s laughter, higher and faster than usual.
“Why that face C? Don’t you trust your best friends? Don’t just think of those as pills, they are a portal to your own shelter. We know how hard it will be for you to put up with your new life, see this as a little help by your Joe and Katy! Whenever you’ll feel down or left alone, just shove a couple of them down and enjoy the journey!”
Coraline couldn’t interpret the overwhelming wave of feelings that was suddenly surfing her guts, she was scared, sad, but also somewhat relieved.
“Joe’s cousins tried them last week and said they are bomb! You might as well give them a shot, am I right C?” They were acting so confidently, but their lifelong friendship couldn’t hide to Coraline’s eyes her friends’ concern and fear in giving her those “pills”. Thus, to contrast her friends’ insecurity, she inhaled a deep breath, and, raising her chin a little, brusquely put the sack in her jeans pockets, without saying a word.
MR. BOBINSKY
Soon as her mom pushed the key into the lock, she felt cold chills going down her spine; she remembered her IPod lay into her coat pocket since the day before, it was something to get away from there, at least with her mind. Her parents started immediately to move the furniture around, carrying huge boxes from the car to the hall, screaming to each other what not to do with the “fragile” ones, and yelling at her, complaining about her not helping. In response, Coraline turned the volume up at the maximum level, making sure no external sound reached her ears, and stomping her feet, got out of the house, into the neighborhood wilderness. There were two houses next to hers, and one that was quite far from the others, all the way down the road. The first door she bumped into had a gold label on the front, citing “Mr. Bobinsky”. She instinctively knocked, despite her unwillingness to talk to anyone but herself. As soon as the door opened, a rat community crushed around her and, before she could even scream, she saw a gigantic shadow rising on top of her head: “Who are you girl, disturbing Mr. Bobinsky during his afternoon nap?”
“Oh...I-I am sorry...ehm.” She now realized the Russian accent in his words. Queer. “I am Coraline, I just moved in the house next to yours with my family”
She felt something weird crawling upon her leg, but it took her a while to figure out what it was, forgetting to be surrounded by dozens of mice. As soon as her sight met those disgusting animals climbing up her jeans, into her front pocket, she started jumping all around, screaming and slamming her leg with both hands.
“I am so sorry, girl, they are very tamed, it never happens…” his gaze upon her was heavy, unwanted. “Do you maybe have some cheese in that pocket?”
She touched her left front pocket, feeling that bumpy mass underneath it. “Shit, I almost forgot about them” she said to herself, shivering.
“N-No, I mean, I don’t know...I have to go.” Gazing the ground, she stepped back from that Mr. Bobinsky and, at a steady pace, walked towards the next door.
MS. FORCIBLE AND MS. SPINK
The door next to Mr. Bobinsky’s was small, very small, and pink. Hanging in the front stood a metal plate in the shape of a dog’s face, gazing piercingly at her. Still labored from the rush, she took a deep breath, and knocked.
“Oh hiiii deeeeaaar! You must be the new girl...Caroline? I am Ms. Forcible” The fat, sweaty woman stared at her, her look almost as annoying as her high-pitched voice.
“It’s C-O-raline”
From behind that huge woman she heard another voice, lower and warmer.
“Who is iiiit?”
“Oh come,come, it’s C-O-raline, our new neighbor!”
“Oh hello darling, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Ms. Spink. We have heard so much about you!”
Coraline was perplexed, “How come you heard of me? I though my parents told no one in the neighborhood that we were moving in…” She was bold, too bold sometimes.
“Oh, the tea told us” Ms. Forcible’s tone was the one of who is saying something obvious.
“The what?”
“Come in Ca-uhm-Coraline, we want to show you something”
The house smelled like candy, it sadly reminded her of her childhood. As soon as she stepped in, she heard barking all over the living room, and in a matter of seconds, from each and every corner of that room peaked out dozens of dogs. She got freaked out at first, but in a matter of seconds, she started to find the thing quite amusing.
“Here honey, sit, sit”
She sat at a little round table, squeezed between the two women. Apparently, they just finished drinking tea, and in one of the two cups, little grains of tea powder lay on the bottom.
“Here Coraline, look” The tea grains were laying in several round shapes. She still couldn’t find the purpose of it.
Ms. Forcible grabbed the cup and, with no sign of hesitation, she cleared her chubby throat and began telling her future.
“Oh girl! I see…I see something horrible! Are you allergic to beans??” Coraline shuddered at the words of that lady, now that she thought about it, those grains looked just like her…
“Oh shut up, what are you talking about? Give it to me! These are clearly peas honey. Are you planning on eating peas tonight? Cause in case you are, you definitely should not do it! Oooh what horrible things I see caused by these peas…” Ms. Spink was terrified.
In Coraline’s mind a thousand of thoughts were suddenly crashing onto each other. She stood up from the nasty couch she had been placed on, said thanks to the ladies and, once again, rushed to the door and ran away.
LONELINESS.
Next to her new-met neighbor ladies’ house, she found a fence low enough so she could sit on it. Her thoughts were so confused, she felt dizziness overwhelming not only her mind, but her body. Coraline fell sitting on the fence, powerless, and began to cry. Through that river of tears, she managed to see a motorbike all the way down the road. There was a guy standing next to it. She remembered her mom telling her about this guy Wibie, who lived alone with his grandmother in their new neighborhood. Suddenly, she felt alone. Desperately alone. She wondered if he noticed her, and answered herself that he surely didn’t. She felt sad, abandoned by everyone in her life. She reached her front pocket, and took out that package. In her head hundreds of contrasting feelings and thoughts.
She wants to take the pills. She needs to take the pills. But then, what would the mice say? And Ms. Forcible and Ms. Spink? Why does that feel so wrong? She WANTS to get to the other world, to that world where she’ll feel beloved and she’ll finally stop having that horrible sense of loneliness, oddness and carelessness that she felt since the day she was borne. Her hands shaking, her legs laying on the bench, powerless. She looked at those pills; in her head now one single thought left: what would her parents say? Will they be happy to know that their daughter seeks shelter in another world? Maybe they’d wish she got stuck in that world, to not have to take care of her anymore. She’d be happy there. And she’d be weightless for this world. So her parents would be happy too, right? Knowing that I’m okay… do they care if I’m okay?
There she stood, sitting hunched on a dirty fence, our lonely girl, Coraline, with her little sack of pills.