Finding Consolation in Writing.

    So I woke up today with a clear hopeful mind, looking forward to have my coffee and get the day started. Coffee of course can be an enough reason for me to be excited about a new morning, but today it was also owing to this place that me and my friend planned to go to. 

So, I went through my regular routine and got myself prepared to go out. 

Phone? Check ✓

Wallet? Check✓

 Lap top? All check! ✓

Closed the door behind me and headed out to the bus station to meet my friend. There! She was standing right beneath the beautiful shiny sun rays which seemed like they were coming out of her not onto her. I run to her like a child who sees his mom coming to pick him up from school. She's obviously about my age, not as loving as a mother to her kid and a bit of a meanie too! (but her fun personality makes up for it *ahem* still love her though =P)

So, my point is what one can do in these bizzare corona times with all these anti-physcial-socializing commands? We crave human contact like tropical fruits, and virtual socializing is a myth anyway, at least for me. 

I hugged her causiously in fear of being bluntly violating the health measures but scratch that! I did not personally meet her in months! Plus, we were wearing our masks anyway! We then got on the unpunctual bus in hopes of reaching our desired destination on time, yet not too bothered about it because bus rides can be amusing on their own when not crowded. Of course we carried out our intermittent chit chatting while gazing out the wide glassy windows of the bus every now and then. Not much of a view yet but watching strangers walking down the streets and passing by random buildings is somehow engaging. Perhaps we all love staring at others by nature and being a passenger on a vehicle is the only time we do it shamelessly. 

The ride went on for more than an hour untill we saw some green land reflected on our vision. God...how purifying the view was to our eyes, and probably to our brain as well. Getting through the green lands meant that we were very close to arrive. I was getting more exicted just thinking about how we'll spend the day in such a beautifully raw area, just me, my books and some uninterrupted birdsong...well, plus my human companion of course. At last the bus made its final stop and that's where we jumpingly got out, like kids again after a hectic school day, running to our safe haven away from the hectic city and its boring lessons and angry teachers. After absorbing some bursts of freshness around us we knew it's time to go straight to the cottage where we'll be staying to study in preparation for the imminent exams and most likely spend the night there because why would't we? In fact, that was our unspoken plan. The afternoon alone wasn't going to be enough. Especially that public transportation is restricted to 8 pm due to the covid situation. So without having a place to stay, we'll either have to run back too quickly in order to catch the last bus or sleep in midst of the exceptional cold and sneaky night savagery of the wild. Heck with all these concerns! We were facing neither thanks to the cottage a relative of mine let me borrow the keys for. Yaaa...IKES! 

"Hey fast girl!" I shouted to my friend, "hold on let me check for something!" Too many flashbacks were being brought up to my mind, why did I miss the one where I was putting the keys in my bag?! My hands were already searching and feeling the inside of the bag...I couldn't touch any skinny metal material. "WTH! Where are the keys? Oh God no! It was no longer an internal speech at this point. I called her to come help me, I was contantly shaking and flipping the bag upside down after I emptied it out. NO KEYS. I even jumped up and down several times in irrational hopes that they may fall down from somewhere. My innovative friend went ahead and topped my irrationality with suggesting to call my mom and ask her to check if I left the keys there. I had no idea how an inside information like that was gonna be useful to us but I went for it anyway. I called my mom and proposed the quest. Surely she found them there, solid and untouched. 

My keys, the one object I'm careful with the most, never forgot them at home, but there is a first time for everything and mine happened the day I was going to a faraway place with the intention to spend the night, without even telling my mom about it. I have no idea why I didn't tell her in the first place! It's not like we were doing something bad and she wasn't going to object regardless. But I guess my subtle desperate pursuit to feel independent pushed me into it. I never considered myself compulsive; who does though? 

On that account, asking about your keys and remaining anxious even after knowing it is at home right where your family lives who would gladly open the door for you after you forgot the keys, will spark a vis-a-vis investigation from the other end, and the secret shall be revealed! ''Ok mom, we were going to spend the night there but don't push it because it's not happening as you can see *sigh*

On a light note, we still had few hours before the last shift of the bus. We forcefully seeked consolation for our disappointment in nature, but for my part I wasn't fully having it. I just couldn't settle with the ridiculously failed plan after ages of not being able to make any, since the confining pandemic unleashed its net on us. Eventully, I managed to revisit some blurry concepts and scenes from books and movies that told me no matter how bad it is, it could have always been badder. So instead of drenching yourself in misery about it, pick a writing tool and vent. Allow yourself to relax, describe the ugly phenomenon and get literary.

Art by Sir John Lavery, Miss Auras, The Red Book (c. 1905)