Minimalist Gossip Magazine Cover (49).pdf (13) - Flipbook - Page 59
are confronted by a room covered in tatty wallpaper. In one corner stands a commode and
next to the commode a dresser that has a roll of toilet paper and a pipe on its surface. You
then notice an elderly man staring at you from his bed. His hair is messy, and tobacco
stained. He wears red and white pyjamas. Smiling at you, he points to the window and
silently mouths, open it. Slowly, you creep across the room and open the window and walk
back to the doorway. The old man smiles at you again, and you back out, pulling the door in
place to how you originally found it. You pause on the landing then enter the toilet. You have
no urge to use the facilities – you do not think you ever did, and you sit on the seat and for a
few moments stare at the pink carpet, then the walls with tiny flowers stretching their way
across the wallpaper as if blown by a child through a straw. You stand up and flush the
toilet, let the water run in the sink as if you were washing your hands. You then notice the
ballerina on top of the cistern, identical to the one that was in your grandmother’s room.
You shove it into the pocket of your shorts and make your way downstairs. The woman
leads you out and you thank her, wish her well. She says she hopes you get moving soon,
and then you are out the front door walking back across the sun-drenched fields to your car,
the ballerina burning in your pocket.
54
