I am a tissue box, a small insignificant,often discarded object. My importance exists only when my owner is in a state of unhappiness or when certain things need to be wiped away. I am writing this memoir as I fear my end is approaching, you see my life extends only as far as the number of napkins in my grasp.
May 27Th 2004
I sat in a dark corner, one I had laid in for a long time, un-utilized and bored. Concealed by showers of pink cushions and stuffed animals, irritated by my immobility, I waited. Most of the time I counted the stars on the quilt beneath me, I imagined at times that their numbers changed, as they shifted forwards and backwards, though they've never moved. Eva had not visited her room all day. if I didn't have a headache I'd have been worried.
I sat there for a few hours, until finally, I heard the thumping of feet on the stairs. My heart rate accelerated as I interpreted the rhythm of her pace. It was unusual, too fast and without the same music that usually carried her. She stormed in and slammed the door behind her. The sound of her frantic movements began approaching me, and I immediately felt a wave of fear go through me.
Suddenly cushions started to rise from around me and the room began to get brighter, as the obstructions were gradually removed. Then, to which my heart fell to my cardboard base, a hand clawed me upwards. I flew in the warm air of her room for a while before landing abruptly and violently on her bed. If I had a voice, a would have yelled at her for such rude handling, how dare she, almost harm the soft, delicate, jasmine-scented perfection of my napkins? What disgusting particulate does she want to wipe away now?
Then I stopped, in mid-thought, as I heard the sound of tragic sobbing, and all my angry thoughts seemed to evaporate. The sound hurt, like tiny daggers rippling through my cotton stuffing. I wanted her to stop, I couldn't handle her tears, they burned me as they crawled down her cheeks. She pulled napkin after napkin out of my head. Like leaves falling of a tree or the shedding of dead skin, after we were separated I could no longer feel them. I could feel myself getting thinner, and with the extraction of each napkin I became weaker. My mind was was ,however, consumed by the sound of Eva's weeping, a sound that was growing louder, and more frantic by the minute.
She had planted me in a perfect position, in the middle of her bed, where I was able to see everything now. Eva sat curled into a small ball, sobbing loudly into a green pillow. Next to her lay a small pink mobile. I had heard he irritating pest ring so many times before, but I had never imagined how small and easily destroyable it was. Oh if only. Just when my mind was about to drift onto the ways of which I could bring about the phone's end, it started to end. ''Hello'', Eva answered in a muffled tone. I heard the squeaks of the person on the other line, a female. The rasps were fast and loud, I could not comprehend them, but then they stopped. Eva had been listening quietly throughout the conversation, until the rasping stopped, and she burst into tears once more.
As much as her unhappiness hurt me, the curiosity of what was bothering her burnt me more severely. The rasping started again, this time it excited me, I wanted to know what was happening! It was driving me mad! I listened intently, but my attempt was dismal. The rasping continued and the sobbing followed, until Eva mumbled what sounded like ''I'll miss you''. More rasping, more sobbing, then a goodbye. The sobbing continued more violently afterward, and I discovered weeks later that the cause of her distress was the departure of her best friend, who moved to Australia. The night I am narrating, is when Eva found out. That night Eva took out almost a quarter of my napkin stock,crying her eyes out. I cried myself though my tears are invisible. Eva fell asleep crying, but I watched her till dawn before bowing out myself.
May 27Th 2004
I sat in a dark corner, one I had laid in for a long time, un-utilized and bored. Concealed by showers of pink cushions and stuffed animals, irritated by my immobility, I waited. Most of the time I counted the stars on the quilt beneath me, I imagined at times that their numbers changed, as they shifted forwards and backwards, though they've never moved. Eva had not visited her room all day. if I didn't have a headache I'd have been worried.
I sat there for a few hours, until finally, I heard the thumping of feet on the stairs. My heart rate accelerated as I interpreted the rhythm of her pace. It was unusual, too fast and without the same music that usually carried her. She stormed in and slammed the door behind her. The sound of her frantic movements began approaching me, and I immediately felt a wave of fear go through me.
Suddenly cushions started to rise from around me and the room began to get brighter, as the obstructions were gradually removed. Then, to which my heart fell to my cardboard base, a hand clawed me upwards. I flew in the warm air of her room for a while before landing abruptly and violently on her bed. If I had a voice, a would have yelled at her for such rude handling, how dare she, almost harm the soft, delicate, jasmine-scented perfection of my napkins? What disgusting particulate does she want to wipe away now?
Then I stopped, in mid-thought, as I heard the sound of tragic sobbing, and all my angry thoughts seemed to evaporate. The sound hurt, like tiny daggers rippling through my cotton stuffing. I wanted her to stop, I couldn't handle her tears, they burned me as they crawled down her cheeks. She pulled napkin after napkin out of my head. Like leaves falling of a tree or the shedding of dead skin, after we were separated I could no longer feel them. I could feel myself getting thinner, and with the extraction of each napkin I became weaker. My mind was was ,however, consumed by the sound of Eva's weeping, a sound that was growing louder, and more frantic by the minute.
She had planted me in a perfect position, in the middle of her bed, where I was able to see everything now. Eva sat curled into a small ball, sobbing loudly into a green pillow. Next to her lay a small pink mobile. I had heard he irritating pest ring so many times before, but I had never imagined how small and easily destroyable it was. Oh if only. Just when my mind was about to drift onto the ways of which I could bring about the phone's end, it started to end. ''Hello'', Eva answered in a muffled tone. I heard the squeaks of the person on the other line, a female. The rasps were fast and loud, I could not comprehend them, but then they stopped. Eva had been listening quietly throughout the conversation, until the rasping stopped, and she burst into tears once more.
As much as her unhappiness hurt me, the curiosity of what was bothering her burnt me more severely. The rasping started again, this time it excited me, I wanted to know what was happening! It was driving me mad! I listened intently, but my attempt was dismal. The rasping continued and the sobbing followed, until Eva mumbled what sounded like ''I'll miss you''. More rasping, more sobbing, then a goodbye. The sobbing continued more violently afterward, and I discovered weeks later that the cause of her distress was the departure of her best friend, who moved to Australia. The night I am narrating, is when Eva found out. That night Eva took out almost a quarter of my napkin stock,crying her eyes out. I cried myself though my tears are invisible. Eva fell asleep crying, but I watched her till dawn before bowing out myself.
