chewing gum
It was nearly the end of class and I was getting distracted from the many bodies in this overcrowded room, but one particular boy struck me as intriguing. So I watched him as he rummaged through his grey and tattered drawstring bag muttering words related to bad breath and something to chew. An orange voodoo doll pinned to the side danced as he shook the bag; his search was in vain so he had to change tactics; he began to empty his bag, pulling items out one by one and ever so carefully as if everything in his bag was made of glass.
He first pulled out a black pencil case and yelped as he picked it up; he opened it to see what had poked him. An assortment of ink cartridges, fountain pens, sharpies and red pens fell out, he felt the bag for the sharp object and found a porcupine quill. Chuckling at his findings he placed the quill back in his pencil case; and scooped up the pens putting them in their home.
Next he pulled out a nutella and peanut butter sandwich, instead of placing it down he threw it aside and ignored it, and then a little leather lens filter pouch was taken out of the bag. The pouch had three different types of lens filters in; a UV, a Polarizer and a fluorescent all of which were polished and not a single scratch, smudge or fingerprint laid on them.
He pulled out a cracked iPod touch, and he set that on the table with as much care as he could; only to dig through his bag and pull out a bright blue Nano chromatic iPod which had an earphone attached to it. The iPod was slightly scratched and had the words “little Britt” and a telephone number engraved on the back. The head phones looked broken and only had one ear bud, the chord was covered in electrical tape; he pressed play on his most played playlist. The sound of a piano introduction from the song “someone like you” by Adele was loud and as clear as a mother singing a lullaby to a child. He left the song playing and he gently smiled, his blue eyes twinkled as if a happy memory was resurrected in his mind.
He pulled out a leather bound notebook, but as he picked it up a feather fell out. The feather was black and the ends were twisted and misshapen so it did not gracefully fall to the ground but it fell none the less, he bent over and picked it up by the stem and rolled it in his thumb and forefinger it spun out of control, after a while he stopped. The feather had changed and it was no longer misshapen but a perfect feather that looked as if it was just created. After he put the feather back in his notebook he pulled out a novel by DJ Machale. It was the 6th book in the series Pendragon and on the side of the book had many bright coloured tabs marking different pages throughout the book. He put that on top of his notebook and carried on with his search, pulling out a blue wallet.
There was a chain attached to the wallet which jingled when he moved it, he tore the velcro apart and checked to see how much money he had, there was a few bills and a handful of coins, there was also a collection of Chinese fortunes which he stopped and read.
“Tomorrow will be a productive day. Don’t oversleep” he gently chuckled and yawned signalling that he had overslept that day. Beneath that fortune read “next full moon brings an enchanting evening.” He smiled as he read that, and the colour of his eyes went a little brighter than normal. “A pleasant surprise is soon in store for you.” was what the next fortune read, and he sat and pondered, shaking his head he read the next one. “Contentment is just around the corner for you, look forward.” “You have an active mind and a keen imagination. Apply your ideas.” As he read the last one he bit his lip and his gaze moved to the ceiling tiles above his head, a mischievous grin appeared on his face “your charm has inspired a secret admirer.” He forced them back into his wallet and closed it shut, resting it on the table and focusing on the next item in his bag.
A camera; slightly scratched and dented, you could call it used but he would say it was loved too much. He pressed the playback button which was nearly worn out and he sat and gazed at the camera. After a dozen pictures that were blurry and drunkenly taken from the party at his house last night, he noticed the organized mess on his table. Placing the items back into his bag in the same order he took them out, he proceeded to look at his camera. Pictures of him and a girl he may or may not remember the name of plastered the screen. Then there were more pictures of him and guys and more girls all of which he appeared really close to, after a few more of these party pictures it moved on to black and white pictures of random objects. One’s of shoes in remote places, and others of a girl lying down in the grass with headphones on, some were of teapots and the occasional piece of graffiti. There were even a couple pictures of black bears and loads of pictures of a little golden puppy.
After the pictures started to repeat he turned off the camera and dropped it in his bag, pulling on the strings and tightening it. He swung it over his shoulder and stood up, gliding out of the room without closing the door behind him or tucking the chain in. Where he was going or what he was doing I don’t think even he knows, but he managed to leave with a purpose.