A Hidden Current of Hate
Eric and Lisa were already seated when Max arrived with Olivia. The restaurant was nice. Cosy enough. He knew Lisa had chosen it, having a particular taste for summer cafés, those with the white tables and uncomfortable wooden chairs.
“Hey man,” Eric grasped Max’s hand when they came closer. He clapped his other hand on his shoulder and looked behind him with furrowed eyebrows, “Chloe couldn’t make it?”
“She’s not here?” Max asked, frowning.
“She had something to do, then,” Eric shrugged, “I don’t really know what,”
Olivia took a seat opposite Lisa and said, “Have you ordered yet?”
Eric smiled, “No, we waited. The waiter left some menus, though,”
“Man, I’m starving,” Max groaned, picking one up and skimming through it.
Olivia did the same, “I heard they have great burgers here.”
“I might get something more substantial, I think, “ Lisa pursed her lips, “I heard quinoa has a lot of good fibre.”
Olivia turned to the next page, sparing Lisa a glance, “Amazing iced tea, too, apparently.”
“Ice tea is so sweet,” Lisa hummed at the menu, “They already add sugar in the tea, and then give you a whole bottle of syrup on the side?”
“Tea is good for you, though,” Olivia smiled with all her teeth, “It relaxes the body.”
“Only certain teas,” Lisa shook her head, “I don’t know where, but on some blog, this woman, I think her name is Cheryl, said that you shouldn’t drink too much tea in one day.”
“Because you’ll have to go to the bathroom?” Eric snorted, then added, “I think I’ll take a club sandwich or something. I’m not that hungry.”
“Ah, yes,” Lisa pointed at it on the menu, “They’re known for them. Which one? Oh, wow, the avocado with tomato looks great,”
“Eh,” Eric’s nose scrunched up, “I think the bacon one looks better. I need some sort of protein”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lisa laughed, “There’s plenty of vitamins and minerals in them.”
Olivia oohed out loud, “They have soup!”
“It’s so hot outside, though,” Lisa frowned, “And I only eat my mother’s soup, really. It’s great, has a lot of hidden fibre everywhere.”
“That sounds-” Olivia cleared her throat, “Sorry. That sounds lovely. How is she, anyway?”
“Oh, she’s great,” Lisa nodded enthusiastically, “She told me about her lunch with Mrs. Davis.”
“My mom?” Olivia asked, “I didn’t know they met up.”
“She didn’t tell you?” Lisa waved her hand, “Don’t worry about it, they talked about us. You know how it goes.”
Olivia cleared her throat again, “Right.”
“My god, you’re coughy today,” Lisa’s eyebrows furrowed, “Do you have a cold?”
“No. Thanks,” Olivia’s lip turned downward.
Max leaned forward decisively, “I’ll take their double small,”
“What’s that?” Lisa asked, peering over Max’s menu before looking for it on her own, scanning the laminated pages.
“Two small burgers,” he replied, “One chicken, one beef.”
“They look nice,” she narrowed her eyes at the menu, “Oh, here’s the waiter. I hope you made up your mind.”
“Actually-” Olivia started.
“Good afternoon. What can I get for you?” the waiter asked, uncapping his pen.
Lisa leaned on her elbows, “Alright, so I’ll have the quinoa salad with the pickled onions. He’ll have the double small, but only with chicken. Red meat and all, you know,” she laughed, “It’s so bad for the climate!” she pointed at Eric, “He’ll get the club sandwiches with avocado and tomatoes. And then…”
She trailed off, glancing at Olivia, “She’ll have- what was it? Ah! Right. She’ll have iced tea to drink, and-”
“The soup of the day, thank you,” Olivia smiled, tight-lipped, and handed the waiter her menu. “Did you get everyone, Lisa?”
“I think so,” Lisa turned to the waiter, “Thank you,”
He walked off, leaving the table to their conversation.
By Anonymous
Passions & Joy
“Spirits intertwined-
Twirling and simmering,
Almost glowing …”
She was reading her poem aloud for the class, her voice full of excitement and radiating friendliness. That tone of passion and excitement made me wonder why. Finding joy in Ms Miller’s English class was unheard of, but she was the exception.
“Dancing around one another.”
Ms Miller started clapping after she finished reading out her poem, the bell ringing right after. Everyone was leaving the class, but I stopped her in her tracks by calling out.
“How are you always so happy?” I blurted out before I could think better of it.
She turned around, and the afternoon sunlight caught in her hair, making her look like an angel. She laughed at my words. A real laugh, the kind you couldn’t fake if you tried.
“I’m not always happy, I just try to be optimistic”, she said, her shoulders shaking in silent laughter.
“Fine then. You always seem so enthusiastic in English, I was wondering why? ” I questioned, feeling a little bit embarrassed.
“When I was a little girl, I thought it was a wonderful thing. Being able to read books all day. I honestly could not get enough of it. Just existing in these different worlds and adventures with my favourite characters. But when I write I feel even more wonderful.”
Taking a deep breath, her eyes sparkling, she continued.
“Forgetting about the world and writing. Ohhh it is just wonderful. Hoping that when people read what I have to say, they will be able to find hope and reflection in the pages of my books. Their journey within my pages, seeing the person who they were and the person who they want to be. Just like how I feel when I read.”
Then she finished, leaving me speechless. Her passion, her optimism. Her.
“That is what brings me joy.” she said with finality, leaving the room.
By Anonymous
The Last Straw
Naina sighed, voice trembling, “You’ve suddenly stopped even telling me things! What am I supposed to think of that? How am I supposed to feel about that?”
Anushka asked sharply, “What? I tell you everything! Everything, okay?”
Naina pauses, voice quiet but hurt, “Really? Really? What about the ice cream?”
Anushka frowned, rolling her eyes “Ice cream? Ice cream? What’s the big deal about ice cream? Why do you keep bringing it up?”
Naina’s voice was steady but cutting, “Yeah, don’t look away. You know exactly what I’m talking about. When you went out with Tara. You didn’t tell me. You didn’t say a word.”
Anushka snapped, “Oh my God! I can’t believe you! It was just ice cream! And anyway, why the hell do I have to tell you every single detail of my life? Who do you think you are?”
Naina’s voice broke, “What? Who am I to you? After everything… Who am I to you? Oh, no one. Just that one person who’s always been there for you. The one who cared for you when you were down. The one who gave up her time for you. The one who helped you get over that horrible breakup. The one who listened to you. The one who loved you… but I—I just can’t anymore.”
Anushka snarled, “You’re just so obsessed with me that you don’t see how controlling you’ve been to me!”
Naina, voice quivering with disbelief, “Obsessed? Obsessed with you? After everything I’ve done for you- everything. And this is what you say? This is what you say to me?”
Anushka’s voice grew harsh, “Yeah, obsessed. You’ve become obsessed with fixing my problems. Solve your own first, Naina. ”
Naina shook her head in disbelief, a tear slipping down her cheek, “I can’t believe you just said that. I can’t believe you’re actually saying this to me, Anushka. This is not supposed to happen.”
“This- this is done. I’m done. I’m leaving.”
By Anonymous
The Dinner
“What about this?” she drawled lazily, holding up a battered blue and red box as the lucid lights flickered above their heads.
“What? You want to eat that again?” he snapped.
“Look… I’ve been working all week. I can’t be asked to cook a big fancy meal for the two of us—it’s just not worth it,” she snapped,
“Well, I’m fed up with microwaveable food. It’s not nutritious, and it’s always too salty…” he said bitterly, “let’s have a look and see what veggies there are…”
“I’m not looking for some stupid vegetables,” she muttered under her breath and turned to the right toward the canned aisle. Her chest heaved with anger as a slight buzz resonated through the nearly empty supermarket. She felt a tap on her shoulder and, expecting it to be Dan, whipped around and snapped, “I’ve had enough of this!”
“Gosh! I was only hoping you’d move so I could get some tinned tomatoes,” said an old man exasperatedly
“Oh…sorry” Nicole replied feebly.
“Hey, I thought you had come with me, I found some good potatoes, maybe we can make a stew?” Dan said as he approached Nicole with a paper bag. “Come on, can you stop ignoring me so we can just get out of here!,” he added.
“Dan, I’m not in the mood, let’s just get something easy,” Nicole replied, her voice tired as she rubbed her temples. “I have loads of papers to catch up on, not to mention I haven’t handed in the report for the end of the semester!”
“But this will taste so much better!” Dan insisted.
“Fine Dan. Have it your way, but I have to do work while you make dinner.” Nicole snapped.
“Sorry, Nic, I’m just tired of always eating the microwaveable crap. I want to start cooking healthy food so that when she comes along,” His eyes darted to Nicole’s protruding stomach, “We can make nice dinners for the three of us…”
“Ok fine,” Nicole sighed “Let’s go home then,”
At the cashier, they both waited as an elderly woman slowly scanned their items. Her demeanour was utterly disengaged as she lazily dragged each item across the scanner.
“God, can she go any slower?” Nicole whispered, exasperated.
“Shhh,” Dan hushed through a grin.
“Anything else?” she drawled in a raspy voice,
“No, that’s all,” Dan stated, “we’d like to pay with card.”
Nicole inserted her card into the old machine and entered her pin.
“Thanks, have a nice evening,” The old woman rasped as Dan and Nicole wandered out of the shop.
The air was crisp, and the dull glow of the rickety street lamps lit the faint rain that had begun to fall.
“How’s the book going?” Dan asked,
“It’s not.” Nicole replied with a long pause, and continued to explain “I haven’t got any ideas, everything I think of gets jumbled up and doesn’t fit together, and it’s taking me too long.”
“When’s the first draft due?”
“In a month…I don’t know how I’ll manage all this work!” Nicole cried out
“Hey, it’s ok, we’ll just need to take one thing at a time, Nic, don’t worry you’ll get through this,” Dan reassured her.
Once inside their house, Nicole sank into the yellow armchair in the kitchen corner and opened her laptop as she began to furiously stab at the keys while Dan began chopping potatoes.
“Finally a good paper!” Nicole said excitedly.
“Oh nice, you don’t get many of those!” Dan added.
Once dinner was ready, Nicole joined Dan at the table.
“This smells great!” Nicole exclaimed as she inhaled deeply.
“Thanks, I tried out a new recipe…” Dan said smilingly, “Are you feeling better about your work now?” he questioned.
“Yeah, I managed to do 3 papers just then, it won’t take long to finish everything else, and then I can focus on my book,” she explained
They ate together, chatting and laughing. The bright light from the kitchen window framed them in a scene almost like a painting—a quiet, intimate family dinner.
By Anonymous
Elements Magazine 