Audita Sum (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} auditasum) wrote,@ 2008-05-24 21:32:00 |
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Prompt: Choose one of your physical features and write about how you can change or disguise that fea
July 1974
Veata stared at herself in the mirror in the bathroom of the homeless shelter. Her right eye socket, sans eye, was still healing, and seeing the large egg-shaped scab made her cringe every time. She wound the bandage back around her head, but it messed with her hair and made her uncomfortable. She needed an eye-patch or something, like the woman named Pirate O'Malley had. Except Pirate O'Malley was old and "batshit crazy."
"So how'd you get that, if you don't mind me asking?" asked a friendly- looking girl with curly brown hair. Veata could see her in the mirror, peering over her shoulder. She had just started learning English, and most phrases she knew involved greetings and asking where things were, like food and restrooms.
"Hello. You... the eye?" she guessed, seeing that the girl was staring unabashedly at it. Her mother would've called that kind of staring rude, but Veata and her mother were very different, and now many miles apart.
"Yes."
Veata turned to look at the her, smiling nervously. "The bomb. No-- yes..." she searched for the right phrase, the one that the doctor had said, but she couldn't grasp it. Veata smiled wanly, knowing that she probably looked idiotic trying to speak the new language. "At Cambodia. My name is Veata."
"My name is Suzy," said the other girl, smiling with slightly-crooked teeth. She had a way about her that made Veata feel strangely at ease. She supposed that Suzy had many friends.
"You... shelter...?" She wanted to ask if Suzy worked here or what, because she wasn't carrying a bag filled with her clothes and possessions around with her. You had to do that in the shelter, or else they'd get stolen.
"I volunteer here," said Suzy.
Veata didn't know what that meant. "Oh. I do not speak much English."
"I can tell," said Suzy wryly. "Do you want me to help you learn?"
'Help' was a word that Veata knew all too well.
I hope I didn't come across as a patronizing ass, but I've never actually met a non-English speaker. I did look up Khmer sentence structure and it's a lot like ours, aside from their adjectives coming after nouns. On an unrelated note, I wrote 665 words for LBoD today. Woot. And I wrote some other stuff for this story thing, but it was added on to something I posted earlier, so...
July 1974
Veata stared at herself in the mirror in the bathroom of the homeless shelter. Her right eye socket, sans eye, was still healing, and seeing the large egg-shaped scab made her cringe every time. She wound the bandage back around her head, but it messed with her hair and made her uncomfortable. She needed an eye-patch or something, like the woman named Pirate O'Malley had. Except Pirate O'Malley was old and "batshit crazy."
"So how'd you get that, if you don't mind me asking?" asked a friendly- looking girl with curly brown hair. Veata could see her in the mirror, peering over her shoulder. She had just started learning English, and most phrases she knew involved greetings and asking where things were, like food and restrooms.
"Hello. You... the eye?" she guessed, seeing that the girl was staring unabashedly at it. Her mother would've called that kind of staring rude, but Veata and her mother were very different, and now many miles apart.
"Yes."
Veata turned to look at the her, smiling nervously. "The bomb. No-- yes..." she searched for the right phrase, the one that the doctor had said, but she couldn't grasp it. Veata smiled wanly, knowing that she probably looked idiotic trying to speak the new language. "At Cambodia. My name is Veata."
"My name is Suzy," said the other girl, smiling with slightly-crooked teeth. She had a way about her that made Veata feel strangely at ease. She supposed that Suzy had many friends.
"You... shelter...?" She wanted to ask if Suzy worked here or what, because she wasn't carrying a bag filled with her clothes and possessions around with her. You had to do that in the shelter, or else they'd get stolen.
"I volunteer here," said Suzy.
Veata didn't know what that meant. "Oh. I do not speak much English."
"I can tell," said Suzy wryly. "Do you want me to help you learn?"
'Help' was a word that Veata knew all too well.
I hope I didn't come across as a patronizing ass, but I've never actually met a non-English speaker. I did look up Khmer sentence structure and it's a lot like ours, aside from their adjectives coming after nouns. On an unrelated note, I wrote 665 words for LBoD today. Woot. And I wrote some other stuff for this story thing, but it was added on to something I posted earlier, so...