Ok guys so I went to Barnes and Noble tonight to do some editing and as usual--something totally bizarre happened. What you are about to read is a totally true story--I could not make this stuff up.
So I'm at BN with my sister editing and I got up at one point to go to the bathroom (don't you love it when I tell you about these things) and I pick the one stall that has an abandoned pair of slippers in them. Yes, slippers!
These aren't just any slippers though. These are slippers that someone painted green!
And...stuffed an origami swan into.
AND...wrote on the origami swan's wing, "Open me!"
I just stared at it and had no idea what to do.
Now, normally I'm quite the adventurous type when it comes to weird things like this...as Southern Princess discovered by blog stalking me over in Lisa and Laura's comments--I one time pushed my dance partner's butt through the basement window of a church while standing tip toe on an upside trashcan--and waited for her to race upstairs to punch in the code to turn off the alarm before the cops came--we weren't really breaking and entering into a church. I just lost my key---yeah I'm Jewish, but I totally had the keys to a church for a few years--that's where we had dance practice.
But I totally got off topic.
Anyway, I did not open the origami swan like it asked me to. I mean, who knows what was in there? What if it had been poop? Or worse?
But...wondering about the truth behind the origami swan in the painted slippers abandoned in the Barnes and Noble bathroom is going to keep me up all night wondering--what if I had opened the swan?
SO...your task should you choose to accept it-is to flash fiction what happened when I didn't chicken out and opened the swan in the comments section below. Ready...go!
---If you're not a flash fictiony person just tell me what you think might have happened.
I would love to be able to come up with some pithy flash fiction for you about what happened when you pulled open the oragami swan. But I don't do short. If I tried, the next thing you'd know Blogger would be shutting down your web for excessive comment length. I will check back to see who comes up with the most inventive story though.
ReplyDeleteI'm really just wishing you would have opened the oragami swan so we would all know what's inside! ButI have to admit - I'm with you on the hesitation...who knows what you may find - and my husband, the germ freak, would applaud you for not opening!
ReplyDeleteI'm not talented at this type of stuff, but, here goes it.
ReplyDeleteI opened the oragami swam, only to discover a note. 'Frankie, it's time to play. You must travel to the nearest High School parking lot. Locate the flagpole for your next set of instructions. Don't forget the slippers. I'll be watching. Heian'
Seriously though, I really wish you would have opened it! Nothing ever crazy happens to me, so I need to live through other people!
LK-hahaha at least tell me your theory! Seriously, someone spent a lot of time learning to make origami swans and planting them in painted slippers in the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteKristi-OMG me too, Im seriously regretting not opening it, which is why I need you all to imagine I did. Its like the one time in my life that the thought of "oh I could use this for my blog didn't pop into my head" but yeah me and your husband...that's more what I was thinking---ewww germs. Now maybe if I had had gloves...a whole other story...
Kelly--Thank you for being brave enough to imagine the next part-YAY You ROCK! And Oooh I like that-reminds me of Eagle Eye...what next?
Poop? That's the first thing you think of!!! Glass half empty much?
ReplyDeleteI bet there was totally a diamond ring in there and your prince charming was in the stall next to you waiting to propose with it!!!
You just gave up on the worlds best frog!
Marybeth-awwww crap! You really think so? Shoot---that must have been why he painted the slippers green--but what was he doing waiting in the girls' bathroom?
ReplyDeleteOh, now I want you to go back and open the swan! Really, anything could have been in there...or nothing at all.
ReplyDeleteWhat if it was like a cursed swan? If you would have opened it a pesky curse would have followed you for years...
Now you should be very happy and feel very lucky that you didn't.
V.S. I knooooow, but I like your theory--totally avoided that curse! In fact I like everyone who theorizes that opening the swan could lead to bad things bc I feel less guilty for not peeking inside. Also--germs!
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds like a beginning of a great paranormal mystery/suspense...The green slippers transport the person who wears them to a fairy land that is being pestered by some evil demons...and the origami swan is a secret map to a doomed mountain where the key to save the fairy empire lies...
ReplyDeleteHave you checked if the slippers were your size? :)
Ivana, ooooooh I like that!!! And I didn't check the slippers size...I think that was the other issue-someone else's shoes--I mean we're dealing with too gross hygiene things, another person's used shoes and mystery in a public bathroom. But they definitely looked too small for my feet.
ReplyDeleteOkay that is SO weird! I wondered at first if you were on a candid camera type show - but that would be SUPER creepy considering where you were...
ReplyDelete~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And when she tugged on the wing of the oragami swan, it fluttered open to reveal a written word. An ancient word, one never spoken and rarely shared.
Gings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, so I tried for like 30 minutes to come up with something better, but my brain is DEAD! So I used the word from your newly enstated word verification, haha
Maybe it was a Christmas present for anyone who had the guts to open it with a BN gift card in it.
ReplyDeleteMiko sat on the toilet seat with her legs pulled up, heels resting on the cold ceramic, blinking hot tears away as she struggled with trembling fingers to fold the swan just the way her grandmother taught her--the corner tucked just so, the fingernail pressed here, a gentle turn of the wrist there--and tried not to clamp down on the hard metal of the ring set between her teeth as she worked, the ring that Kiyoku had given her on their wedding day, when he slipped it gently over her knuckle until it rested against the soft web of flesh between her fingers (she recalled how he looked at the floor instead of at her face as he spoke the words of commitment, how that night he loomed over her with cold and perfunctory affection)... but now she took the ring from her mouth and slipped it into the small cavity of the swan's body, then completed the final folds and rested the small, paper creature on her palm, gazing at it with shimmering eyes for a brief moment before bending and placing it on the floor, and then, standing, shuddering with suppressed sobs, she walked out of the stall and the bathroom, keeping her gaze downward in order not to see her own puffy, tear-streaked visage, her hair cut raggedly short and streaked with blonde, and the painful, swollen, flaming bruise on her cheek above the cut on her lips that, hours later, still bled, as her heart had bled these five long years.
ReplyDelete* * * * *
Sorry, I couldn't find a way to work the painted slippers in. But the swan was too good too let pass. :)
Sara omg that was actually my first thought-but then ewww I hope not, we don't need me going to the bathroom to be videotaped. Cool answer!!
ReplyDeleteBook Snob--nooooo I hope not!!!
Simon, wow very intense and passionate -but as the flash fiction master, I'd expect no less! Well done!
Oh how I wish I would have seen this entry earlier!
ReplyDeleteYes yes I could not help but truly wonder about that snippet you posted in the comments at Lisa & Laura's... sorry. ;o)
Hahaha, any chance of you getting back to that stall again to see if it is still there?
ReplyDeleteI think I would have bitten the bullet and opened it up. But I would have been scared of finding something weird in it, too. I love flash fiction! I bought a how-to write flash fiction guide for myself a friend of mine this year. I can't wait to start on the exercises. Here is my contribution to your B&N restroom adventure.
ReplyDeleteShe opens the paper swan with her fingernails, each one sliding under the flaps to unfold the wings they mimic. She does not grip it or hold it in her palm. She thinks what could be inside? What if it is something nasty? A flap pops up and blue ink is visible. Letters are written in small, clean print. She takes a risk and uses her fingertips to smooth the creases flat. The note inside is this:
Here is a piece of myself. I have no one left to give to, and I cannot give this to you directly because you would think I'm strange. I hope these slippers make you happy. If they don't, please find someone who will like them. There is no other way for me to make up for the past.
SP-hehehe I tried to make up for it by sharing the story here.
ReplyDeleteHeather---sadly Ive been back and the slippers and swan are gone.
Jazz-I wish I had opened it!!! Thanks for sharing your flash fiction! Its awesome.