11-11-2014, 01:35 PM
So, she didn't really have any money, but there was something comforting in the vastness of the market that was simply lost in the grandiose of the shopping centre, despite so many busy emotions humdrumming in the back of her mind. Asha felt better able to linger, to meander, explore and inspect without feeling so thoroughly misplaced. She took photos as she did so, but most of what she indulged was idle gossip, left to ferment and connect in the back of her thoughts while she wandered. For that, the market was the perfect place.
She was glad for the thickness of her coat against the brisk wind, fastened tight to her throat where it met a thick wool scarf. Before arriving she thought she'd been prepared for the weather, but after a few days spent enduring the harsh temperatures she'd begun to regret not having a hat. Her blood pined for warmer climes, but given no other option, contemplating such purchase was the half-hearted pretext upon which she shifted through the various stalls. The fuller part of her attention remained on the bubbles of emotion around her, brushing most aside. It was the unusual she sought with her gift. And the empty spaces, such as she had not felt since the day in the coffee shop. It had scared her then. Still did if she was honest. But it hadn't stopped the curiosity.
Eventually she retreated. Sans hat - she was too loathe to part with the cash when she could probably just make do, but the afternoon had still been pleasant enough. A few good pictures, enough to work with, and one man had espoused on local folklore with little encouragement. Right now though, car keys jangling in the numb fingers of one hand, what she most wanted was to blast on the heat and wait for it to seep back under her skin. Her cheeks felt like twin slabs of ice.
Asha stopped short of where her car was parked, not at first because she noticed anything awry, but because of the burning emptiness radiating unnaturally from one of the men brawling by the curb. Instinct backed her right up, crushing her straight into someone else's path, and for a second she stepped whole into their emotions. A disorienting moment, a stagger forward to break free, and only then she realised where one man had lurched backwards from a shove, he'd fallen right through the vacant space where her car should have been.
A pit hollowed out in her stomach.
The car was not there.
The moment of desperation was drowned by a spark of fury. "Hey!"
She was glad for the thickness of her coat against the brisk wind, fastened tight to her throat where it met a thick wool scarf. Before arriving she thought she'd been prepared for the weather, but after a few days spent enduring the harsh temperatures she'd begun to regret not having a hat. Her blood pined for warmer climes, but given no other option, contemplating such purchase was the half-hearted pretext upon which she shifted through the various stalls. The fuller part of her attention remained on the bubbles of emotion around her, brushing most aside. It was the unusual she sought with her gift. And the empty spaces, such as she had not felt since the day in the coffee shop. It had scared her then. Still did if she was honest. But it hadn't stopped the curiosity.
Eventually she retreated. Sans hat - she was too loathe to part with the cash when she could probably just make do, but the afternoon had still been pleasant enough. A few good pictures, enough to work with, and one man had espoused on local folklore with little encouragement. Right now though, car keys jangling in the numb fingers of one hand, what she most wanted was to blast on the heat and wait for it to seep back under her skin. Her cheeks felt like twin slabs of ice.
Asha stopped short of where her car was parked, not at first because she noticed anything awry, but because of the burning emptiness radiating unnaturally from one of the men brawling by the curb. Instinct backed her right up, crushing her straight into someone else's path, and for a second she stepped whole into their emotions. A disorienting moment, a stagger forward to break free, and only then she realised where one man had lurched backwards from a shove, he'd fallen right through the vacant space where her car should have been.
A pit hollowed out in her stomach.
The car was not there.
The moment of desperation was drowned by a spark of fury. "Hey!"