Doors

All the windows were closed at the house on top of Telegraph Hill. The bed was made perfectly. The room smelled of Glade room freshener. Blair stared into the mirror watching herself. She twirled her fingers through her hair as her cell phone went off playing Justin Timberlake. She walked over to her bed where her cell phone was. “1 New Text Message” her phone said.  The text message was from her friend. Blair, without responding to the text message, threw her phone back onto the bed. She walked back over to the mirror but this time reapplied lip-gloss. She looked in the mirror and thought, damn I look good. Her cell phone rang again, but this time it was a phone call. Blair picked up the phone and heard a raspy voice. She quickly hung up the phone and ran downstairs. A woman who looked very similar to Blair stood in the kitchen. Blair ran to the cabinet and took out a stack of plates and dropped them on the ground, causing a huge crash. The blonde haired, blue-eyed woman walked over the broken glass and out to the back yard. Blair ran back upstairs, crying. After crying off all her make-up she reapplied everything: her mascara, eyeliner, blush, eye shadow, and lip-gloss.  She continued to stand in front of the mirror; she started brushing her long golden blonde hair. Blair received another text message. After reading it she walked downstairs into her garage. She unlocked the door of her forest green Jeep. She backed out of the garage and started to drive. Blair continued driving for a while. Then she stopped on the side of Bancroft Way. She pulled up along the curb and started talking to a man on the street. She wasn’t really having a conversation but more listening into the conversations behind the man. Two Asian women were waiting for the bus. Blair made a racial slur to herself and continued driving. Blair drove down Bancroft further. She heard a siren and saw flashing lights in her rear view mirror. Panicked, she quickly pulled over to the right, almost hitting two pedestrians. Blair flipped down her mirror from the visor of the car. A perfect opportunity, Blair thought. While singing to herself, Blair began to comb her fingers through her hair. She turned up the radio and continued driving. The car windows were down. The heat was on full blast. Blair was singing at full volume. Her cell phone vibrated; she picked it up, almost crashing into the car in front of her. “1 New Text Message” it flashed. Carefully, she flipped open the phone and saw a message from T.T. “What are you doing tonight? Come to this party on Dwight at 9. Text me if you need directions.” A party? She thought. Blair’s eyes opened wide and quickly drove back home to Telegraph Hill to get ready for the night. Driving way too fast, Blair made it home. She walked to the front door, put her in key in the lock, struggling to unlock the door. She walked over the next house put her key in the lock and unlocked the door. She walked inside seeing the blonde hair; blue eyed woman painting her nails in the living room. After glaring at the woman, Blair ran upstairs. She went straight to the mirror. Moaning and sighing, Blair saw one strand of hair out of place. She broke down and began shrieking and screaming. Frantically, Blair hopped into the shower. A C.D. played in her shower radio. Blair was singing along. Her neighbor shouted out his window, “Turn that shit down, Blair.” Fuck you, Billy, Blair thought.  She got out of the shower. Turned her music higher. Blair threw her clothes all over her room. She couldn’t decide what to wear. Finally after a few tantrums, Blair walked downstairs out to her car. Across the street Blair saw a raccoon attacking a five year-old. Blair got into her car and drove towards Dwight Way. She drove all the way to the bottom. At a stoplight Blair text messaged T.T., “What’s the address?” Blair put her phone on the seat next to her. As she looked over she saw a five-year old crying hysterically. The girl had bruises and cuts all over. Blair looked scared and confused. “Sweetheart, what’s your name?” The little girl said nothing. Blair continued to drive. Blair looked scared and confused. “Sweetheart, what’s your name?” The little girl said nothing. Blair continued to drive. Blair arrived at the party. As she was getting out of the car, a raccoon jumped in front of her. “Where you going?” the raccoon asked. “To a party,” she responded. The young girl walked off. Blair walked towards the party. The house was an enormous building. It was covered in granite statues and carvings of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. She opened the first door. A cage of tigers roared at her. Behind the tigers, a pen of pigs and chickens waddled around.  Next to the pigs was a stall of horses. Monkeys were next to the penguins. The giraffes screamed at Blair. T.T. was standing in front of a stone door. Blair opened the door and walked inside. Mountains extended for miles, covered in freshly fallen snow. Young snow boarders and skiers were flying down the slopes. She picked up some snow, rolled it into a ball and threw it in the distance. Blair walked to the back of the party. T.T. followed behind her. Blair saw a raccoon sitting on the couch. “Were you even invited?” Blair asked the raccoon. The raccoon pointed to a door covered in beads and confetti. Blair opened the door. Blair heard screaming and yelling of excitement. She stepped inside. Blair walked to a line. A sign above her said, “SPACE MOUNTAIN.” Blair was twenty stories above, looking out to see the whole city of San Francisco. She opened another door. The young girl was sitting in the bathtub crying. Blair walked inside and looked in the mirror. Playing around with her hair, she screamed at her reflection. She rubbed off her make up, pulled out the barrette from her hair and jumped into the shower. Blair opened another door. Fans were screaming. The crowd was screaming, “Let’s go, Dodgers!” Blair snacked on a pretzel and sipped a beer. Blair reached up with a glove and caught a fly ball. That was a thrill Blair had never felt.  She opened another door. Blair put her glass of wine down on the table next to her lawn chair. She jumped into the pool, splashing water. Colorful noodles filled the pool. She took a pink one and smacked T.T. over the head. Blair walked through the front door. She walked right past her stepmother, shaking her head at her. Blair’s house reeked of marijuana. Blair changed her outfit, took off her make-up and reapplied it. Blair walked around the bushes covering the bottom of the party. She walked to the bottom of the stairs and opened a wooden door. The puff of sweet smelling cotton candy filled Blair’s nose. Shelves covered the walls. Jars filled the shelves and candy filled the jars. Blair stuck her face into a jar and grabbed licorice with her teeth, shoving it in her mouth. Blair walked to the kitchen table spat out some of the candy. People ran to the table grabbing the sweets.  The raccoon jumped on the table, eating all the food. Blair walked to a glass door. On the other side was a man in an apron. She walked inside. There were shelves of cereal, peanut butter, jams, and bread extended along the aisles. She walked down another aisle and opened a jar of pickles. She pulled one out and stuffed it in her mouth. She walked to the fruits and vegetables and stuffed apples into her purse. Blair walked over to the raccoon and handed it a banana. The raccoon pointed to a jar of peanut butter Blair was holding and pulled it out of her hands. Blair opened another door, a double door this time. The door stood as tall as the ceiling. It had a beautiful brass doorknob. She sat down in a chair. A woman took Blair’s shiny blonde hair and put it under a sink. The women took scissors and cut off Blair’s long blonde hair leaving her bald. Blair ran out screaming. Blair shaved the raccoon’s fur and glued it on her head. She opened all the doors. She found the swimming pool and jumped in. Blair looked at her reflection of a neon green truck. She combed her fingers through her long blonde hair. Blair opened another door. Instead of screaming and yelling, Blair heard nothing. There was complete silence. She walked over to a shelf, picked up a book. The book had big letter on the front that read, “DO NOT OPEN!” Blair opened the book. The first page said, “DO NOT TURN THE PAGE!” Blair turned the page. Blair found a note on the second page. “DO NOT READ THIS NOTE!” Blair read the note. The note read, “Didn’t you ever learn to follow the rules?” Blair opened another book. The book had no words. Blair turned the pages. Flowers started blooming. There were pink flowers, yellow flowers, big flowers, small flowers, pretty smelling flowers, and bad smelling flowers. Blair picked the flowers. She closed the book and ran out the door screaming. “FIRE!” she yelled. Blair handed the flowers to the little girl. The little girl was still crying. She took the flowers and wiped them against a cut on her leg. Blair tried to talk to the girl. The girl cried even harder. Blair reapplied her lip-gloss and picked up a wine glass, spit into it, and walked to another door. The room was filled of smoke. Aretha Franklin was playing from the speakers. Disco lights were flashing. Blair took an eight-pound ball. She brought it up to her chest and released it, sending the ball down the lane. She knocked over eight of the ten pins and a crowd cheered behind her. With a smile on her face, Blair walked to another door. This door was bright red. She saw a huge sign that read “CHINATOWN.” Blair walked inside a restaurant. She ordered raccoon. The waiter handed her a piece of paper in Chinese. Blair walked towards the raccoon and gave him a to-go box of mashed potatoes. The raccoon threw the box across the room. The little girl caught it, opened the box, and poured it on the diamond doorknob. Blair licked the doorknob to twist it open. On the other side was T.T. Blair quickly closed the door. She opened it again. Blair’s stepmother was singing karaoke with a thirteen-year- old boy wearing a Kippah and Tallit. Blair walked outside. She took three deep breaths and headed for a black door. The door led to a steep staircase. Blair started to cry and slammed the door shut. Blair took of her shoe and threw it down the stairs. A kid screamed, “OUCH!” Blair closed the door again. Blair searched the party for a television.  Blair stood in front of the mirror. She flipped her hair, shook her head, squirted olive oil in her hair and opened the last door. It was the golden door. Blair slowly opened the door. She stepped inside. She heard waves crashing. Palm trees were blowing in the wind, dropping coconuts. Blair’s feet sunk into the warm white sand, getting in between her toes. The sun beat down on her as she sipped on an ice cold Piña Colada. Her skin smelled of sweet sun tan lotion. She rested above a colorful beach towel, soaking in the sun. Children were building tall sand castles. Surfers were falling off their boards. The lifeguards sat high above the rest of the people ready to dive in and save someone. Blair lifted her sunglasses and saw a huge that sign hung from the sky that read:

WELCOME TO PARADISE”

Musical Chairs

A room had ten chairs. The ten chairs were in a circle. The chairs were faced outward. Ten children sat in the ten chairs. The music played and one chair went missing. Then there were nine chairs. The music stopped and the children sat down. One child did not have a chair. That child cried. The music started. Another chair went missing. Then there were eight. The music played and the children walked. The music stopped and the children sat down. Another child started crying. The music started and the children walked. Again, one more chair went missing and there were seven. The children danced in a circle, until the music stopped. One more child was crying. The music resumed. Then there were six chairs. Then there were five chairs, then four, then three and then two. Two children sat in the two chairs. The music played, and kept playing. One chair went missing. There was just one chair. Both children were crying.

Sticker Book

“That’s mine,” Becky said.

“No Mine,” Bonnie said.

“Nope.”

“Let’s put it down on the floor and see who it comes to,” Bonnie suggested.

“Fine. It’s mine,” Becky whined.

“HEY! Alligator, that’s mine!” Blair and Becky screamed.

Stilettos

I was dressed in all yellow. I had cute little rubber ducky boots on. I saw a huge puddle. My mommy told me to never jump in. My mommy told me not to do a lot of things. I wanted so bad to jump in. Other kids were jumping in. Jimmy jumped in, Johnny jumped in, Jilly jumped in. I thought about it. I stared at the puddle. I contemplated my options. Then I remembered I was going to a party later and didn’t want to ruin my stilettos.