PrinceMyshkin
01-02-2008, 09:49 AM
Mandy and her mother had been shopping for a new pair of jeans and a t-shirt that Mandy could wear to her cousin's birthday party. The birthday was going to take place in just two days, and Mandy was in a panic because they still hadn't found a pair of jeans or a t-shirt that she liked.
"Don't worry," her mother kept saying, "we'll find something."
But they had been shopping all afternoon, and now the stores were getting ready to close and Mandy's mother announced that it was time for them to call it a day.
"Just one more store, Mom, please. I'm sure we'll find something I like."
"The mall is closing now, Mandy."
"Couldn't we go somewhere else, Mom, please! I'll die if I have to wear one of my stinky old jeans to the party."
But her mother was already heading for the exit.
"Just one more store, Mom, please," Mandy pleaded, walking quickly to keep up with her. "I'm begging you. Please. Please."
"It's a holiday, Mandy," her mother said. "The whole world is closed."
Mandy stopped in her tracks. "That's ridiculous, Mom," she called out. How could the whole world be closed? But her mother was already too far ahead of her to hear.
Mandy looked around. Sure enough, all the stores that she could see were closing their doors or bringing steel shutters down over their windows.
All the way home, the only lights that they could see were the street-lamps. One by one, as Mandy and her mother drove by, store lights were being turned off.
Before she went to bed that night, Mandy went to the window in her room. She opened it a bit, as she always did, so that she might have fresh air while she slept. Looking out, she could see the distant stars, like faraway worlds that would be open all night long.
Sighing unhappily, she crawled into bed and fell asleep. And soon, she was having a dream, a terrible dream. She dreamed that it was the day of her cousin's party and she was still out searching for the ONE PERFECT PAIR OF JEANS AND T-SHIRT.
She was high up, high above the world, flying through the air. The stars were closer than she'd ever seen them before, as close as the kids who sat next to her in class. And the moon was bright and very large.
She flew first to Paris, because she had heard that Paris was the fashion capital of the world. Just as she got there, however, the gendarmes were pulling together giant iron gates all around the city.
Paris was closed!
The Eiffel Tower was closed!
The Champs Elysees was closed!
So was Montmartre, the Louvre, every famous place she had ever heard of, and of course every store.
The whole city was closed. In fact, as she rose higher in the air, she saw that all of France was closed!
"Can I get in, please," she said to the gatekeeper, but he said:
"Sorry, closed."
By dozens, by hundreds, lights were going out all over the country. Around its harbours, ships were locked out and were lying at anchor. Overhead, several 'planes circled around hopelessly or turned back and headed elsewhere, searching for a country that might still be open. And on the ground, at every border crossing, trains and cars and trucks were piled up in long, long lines, unable to get in.
Next, she flew to New York, the one city in the world, she thought, that never closes, never sleeps. But just as she got there, the police were shutting the doors on New York City, and here, too, the lights were beginning to go out.
The giant neon signs on Broadway sputtered and went out.
The Empire State building blinked several times as if in protest. Then it, too, went dark.
The Brooklyn Bridge was closed, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Museum of Modern Art, Harlem, Manhattan...
"Can I get in, please," she called out to the gatekeeper, but he said:
"Sorry, closed, shut."
She went to Tokyo, to Rome, to Toronto: closed, all closed. Sweden, Ireland, China... Wherever she went, it was the same sad story.
Finally, desperate, she flew to Africa. No one could close Africa, she was sure. It was so big, and parts of it, she had heard, were still wild. But when she got there the jungles were just being locked up for the night.
The lions were going to sleep.
The giraffes were laying down their long, graceful necks on soft grass.
The hyenas were retreating into their lairs.
The apes and monkeys were curling up in trees or caves.
A tall bamboo fence had come down around all of Africa. A few restless animals, not yet ready for sleep, stood at this fence and looked out, longingly.
"Can I get in, please," she said to the gatekeeper, but he said:
"Sorry, closed, shut. All locked up."
Her mother was right: the whole world was closed! She couldn't have bought the one most horrible jeans and t-shirt, let alone the one perfect jeans and t-shirt, if her life depended on it.
She turned around, defeated and sad. She would never find the one perfect jeans and t-shirt in time for her cousin's party. She would have to wear some ugly old thing that looked horrible on her.
She was beginning to miss her family and decided it was time to go home. But as she turned around to fly back, an enormous iron cage came down on all sides of the world, fastened with the largest padlock she had ever seen.
The whole world was closed!
She rattled the gates as hard she could, but they wouldn't budge.
"Can I get in, please," she called as loud as she could, but the gatekeeper said:
"Sorry, closed, shut. All locked up. Too late."
Then she saw a window, a window that was slightly open, just wide enough for her to crawl through.
And she was back in her room, in her own bed - awake! She looked toward the window, where the sun was shining through. Getting out of bed she went to the window, and yes: there it was, bathed in sunlight - the whole, beautiful world!
She ran to her parents' room and entered quietly. "Mom, Mom," she whispered, shaking her mother gently:
"It's time to get up - the whole world is open!"
- § -
"Don't worry," her mother kept saying, "we'll find something."
But they had been shopping all afternoon, and now the stores were getting ready to close and Mandy's mother announced that it was time for them to call it a day.
"Just one more store, Mom, please. I'm sure we'll find something I like."
"The mall is closing now, Mandy."
"Couldn't we go somewhere else, Mom, please! I'll die if I have to wear one of my stinky old jeans to the party."
But her mother was already heading for the exit.
"Just one more store, Mom, please," Mandy pleaded, walking quickly to keep up with her. "I'm begging you. Please. Please."
"It's a holiday, Mandy," her mother said. "The whole world is closed."
Mandy stopped in her tracks. "That's ridiculous, Mom," she called out. How could the whole world be closed? But her mother was already too far ahead of her to hear.
Mandy looked around. Sure enough, all the stores that she could see were closing their doors or bringing steel shutters down over their windows.
All the way home, the only lights that they could see were the street-lamps. One by one, as Mandy and her mother drove by, store lights were being turned off.
Before she went to bed that night, Mandy went to the window in her room. She opened it a bit, as she always did, so that she might have fresh air while she slept. Looking out, she could see the distant stars, like faraway worlds that would be open all night long.
Sighing unhappily, she crawled into bed and fell asleep. And soon, she was having a dream, a terrible dream. She dreamed that it was the day of her cousin's party and she was still out searching for the ONE PERFECT PAIR OF JEANS AND T-SHIRT.
She was high up, high above the world, flying through the air. The stars were closer than she'd ever seen them before, as close as the kids who sat next to her in class. And the moon was bright and very large.
She flew first to Paris, because she had heard that Paris was the fashion capital of the world. Just as she got there, however, the gendarmes were pulling together giant iron gates all around the city.
Paris was closed!
The Eiffel Tower was closed!
The Champs Elysees was closed!
So was Montmartre, the Louvre, every famous place she had ever heard of, and of course every store.
The whole city was closed. In fact, as she rose higher in the air, she saw that all of France was closed!
"Can I get in, please," she said to the gatekeeper, but he said:
"Sorry, closed."
By dozens, by hundreds, lights were going out all over the country. Around its harbours, ships were locked out and were lying at anchor. Overhead, several 'planes circled around hopelessly or turned back and headed elsewhere, searching for a country that might still be open. And on the ground, at every border crossing, trains and cars and trucks were piled up in long, long lines, unable to get in.
Next, she flew to New York, the one city in the world, she thought, that never closes, never sleeps. But just as she got there, the police were shutting the doors on New York City, and here, too, the lights were beginning to go out.
The giant neon signs on Broadway sputtered and went out.
The Empire State building blinked several times as if in protest. Then it, too, went dark.
The Brooklyn Bridge was closed, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Museum of Modern Art, Harlem, Manhattan...
"Can I get in, please," she called out to the gatekeeper, but he said:
"Sorry, closed, shut."
She went to Tokyo, to Rome, to Toronto: closed, all closed. Sweden, Ireland, China... Wherever she went, it was the same sad story.
Finally, desperate, she flew to Africa. No one could close Africa, she was sure. It was so big, and parts of it, she had heard, were still wild. But when she got there the jungles were just being locked up for the night.
The lions were going to sleep.
The giraffes were laying down their long, graceful necks on soft grass.
The hyenas were retreating into their lairs.
The apes and monkeys were curling up in trees or caves.
A tall bamboo fence had come down around all of Africa. A few restless animals, not yet ready for sleep, stood at this fence and looked out, longingly.
"Can I get in, please," she said to the gatekeeper, but he said:
"Sorry, closed, shut. All locked up."
Her mother was right: the whole world was closed! She couldn't have bought the one most horrible jeans and t-shirt, let alone the one perfect jeans and t-shirt, if her life depended on it.
She turned around, defeated and sad. She would never find the one perfect jeans and t-shirt in time for her cousin's party. She would have to wear some ugly old thing that looked horrible on her.
She was beginning to miss her family and decided it was time to go home. But as she turned around to fly back, an enormous iron cage came down on all sides of the world, fastened with the largest padlock she had ever seen.
The whole world was closed!
She rattled the gates as hard she could, but they wouldn't budge.
"Can I get in, please," she called as loud as she could, but the gatekeeper said:
"Sorry, closed, shut. All locked up. Too late."
Then she saw a window, a window that was slightly open, just wide enough for her to crawl through.
And she was back in her room, in her own bed - awake! She looked toward the window, where the sun was shining through. Getting out of bed she went to the window, and yes: there it was, bathed in sunlight - the whole, beautiful world!
She ran to her parents' room and entered quietly. "Mom, Mom," she whispered, shaking her mother gently:
"It's time to get up - the whole world is open!"
- § -