37
Write about a stadium – either a real one from your childhood, or the one next to your home now, or a grand one you once visited, or write how you’ve never even been to a stadium.
OPTIONAL: Work on your fiction and share.
Fifteen is a good age to start a new routine.
Marusya did not know it, but she started it anyway. Tanya was not around at this point - she chose the option to graduate after the 8th grade and go to a teachers' college. In four years or so, she'd be a teacher and work with orphans as she always dreamed to do, to Marusya's great amazement. Marusya enjoyed her new friendships with a couple of girls from her school who actually studied a year younger, though they all were born in the same year, except that Marusya was born in Spring, and they were born in the late Fall.
Other than taking tennis lessons on weekends, Marusya was not very athletic. Her mom worried about Marusya's health a bit too much, and never insisted on taking on any sports, and had even talked Marusya out of continuing dance lessons. But that particular Fall, Marusya suddenly discovered a desire to go jogging early in the morning, long before school started. It was a beautiful September - sunny, dry and quite warm, without the usual gray sky and low temperatures. And the stadium near their town has just upgraded the pavement as Marusya heard from Matveika.
"Hello! It's Marusya. May I speak to Julia please?"
Julia's mom, whose parents were originally from Latvia, and that was the only logical explanation why she named her daughter Julia, and not Yulia, the typical form of that name for Russia, called her to pick up the phone.
Did you notice that Marusya has finally got a phone in her apartment? No? Well she did! And she was ever so thrilled with the opportunities to connect with her friends right from her home. The phone machine was bright red color and a sleek modern shape, and was connected to the specially made outlet in the wall of the apartment's hallway, or corridor as they call it in Russian, right between the endless bookshelves and hooks for coats and jackets.
Julia sounded sleepy.
"Are you awake yet?"
"Just barely. It's Sunday, Marusya, what do you want?"
Julia had a tendency to catch on sleep on weekends, but 1 PM was late even for her. Not that it really mattered, but Marusya felt a bit annoyed that her friend was not fully awake to appreciate her brand new idea.
"I thought today... Let's start jogging in the mornings, before school."
'What? Are you crazy? It's too early, I want to sleep."
Marusya heard how Julia's mom corrected her after the words "are you crazy" - she was such a polite lady, perhaps the best manners in town.
"No, listen to me. Remember how we always go on and on about loosing a couple of kilograms?"
"Well..."
"Well they don't shake off all by themselves, Julia. Do you want it or not?"
The fast and frank tactic always worked best with her friend, and Julia gave up. It did not take even 2 minutes to convince her that jogging early in the morning, before school starts, was the best idea ever,
And so they started jogging. The first week went really well. Marusya would run up the concrete steps that connected the lower and upper parts of their courtyard, and wait for Julia by the entrance of her apartment building. Sometimes Julia was already there, looking all adorable in her sleepy state. Her bright green polo shirt added to Marusya's cheery mood.
The town was still asleep, and the air was fresh and crisp in the mornings. It felt like it all belonged to the two friends, only bird songs would interrupt their conversations (or rather Marusya's conversation, as Julia was mostly listening and yawning). As soon as they passed the courtyard, they started jogging towards the direction of the long tree lined alley which led to the stadium, if you go right, or to the truck trailer factory if you go straight. They tried the factory route, and it worked well, but soon they got bored with it (or rather Marusya got bored, as Julia felt way too sleepy to have an opinion). The stadium was closer and the girls could just run in circles - easy, predictable and it felt like they were real athletes or something. The stadium, surprisingly, was open day and night, and the new pavement was very smooth - easier on feet compared to the asphalt pavement of the pine trees alley. Marusya and Julia made a couple of circles when suddenly a familiar male figure appeared on the stadium.
"Who's that? Is he who I think he is?" Marusya asked her now awakened friend.
"He sure is," Julia said.
The familiar figure started moving at a jog towards Marusya and Julia. With every step, they felt like hiding under the long benches or disappearing through the crack of the fence.
"Is there another entrance to the stadium?"
"It's too late, Marusya. Let's just smile and say hello."
Julia was surprisingly grown up sometimes, very sensible for someone who was whole six months junior.
But even Marusya couldn't deny that indeed it was too late to hide, and now she only wished she could turn into a fly from the Russian fairy tale and fly away. Or maybe land on his nose and bite it. Or maybe just tickle it until he sneezes.
"Oh hello!"
"Hello Dmitri Petrovich," said the girls together as if they were in the classroom.
"And here I am thinking what happened to Marusya lately? She became so slim suddenly."
"I've always been slim," Marusya thought and before she realized what's happening, she heard her voice saying:
"I've always been slim."
Dmitri Petrovich chuckled and continued running, and the girls also continued running in the direction opposite of him.
"He's just so sleezy," Julia said.
"I will never hear the end of it," Marusya said.
"Don't pay any attention to him."
"That would be the best thing to do," Marusya agreed with her very sensible young friend.
Good plan!
The very same day, after Marusya and Julia came back each to their apartment where their moms had already prepared breakfast and left for work, the girls took showers, changed into their uniforms and went to school. And sure enough, the very first class in Marusya's schedule was PE which she hated with a passion, if that's possible, even though she overgrew the stage when she hated pretty much everything with a passion, but her feelings toward PE class only deepened after the morning encounter.
"Oh hello, and who is this? Who so slender enters the class today? I can hardly recognize you, Marusya."
Poor Marusya. If she could, she would punch him right in the face. But she couldn't. Not the PE teacher. Not any teacher, for that matter. It was not okay for students to bully other students, but it was quite all right for teachers to bully students, at least for some teachers.
"Maybe you need prescription glasses," Marusya hardly could believe her own tongue. "I've always looked this slender."
Rise and Write 36-42
What Happened at the Stadium
Fifteen is a good age to start a new routine.
Marusya did not know it, but she started it anyway. Tanya was not around at this point - she chose the option to graduate after the 8th grade and go to a teachers' college. In four years or so, she'd be a teacher and work with orphans as she always dreamed to do, to Marusya's great amazement. Marusya enjoyed her new friendships with a couple of girls from her school who actually studied a year younger, though they all were born in the same year, except that Marusya was born in Spring, and they were born in the late Fall.
Other than taking tennis lessons on weekends, Marusya was not very athletic. Her mom worried about Marusya's health a bit too much, and never insisted on taking on any sports, and had even talked Marusya out of continuing dance lessons. But that particular Fall, Marusya suddenly discovered a desire to go jogging early in the morning, long before school started. It was a beautiful September - sunny, dry and quite warm, without the usual gray sky and low temperatures. And the stadium near their town has just upgraded the pavement as Marusya heard from Matveika.
"Hello! It's Marusya. May I speak to Julia please?"
Julia's mom, whose parents were originally from Latvia, and that was the only logical explanation why she named her daughter Julia, and not Yulia, the typical form of that name for Russia, called her to pick up the phone.
Did you notice that Marusya has finally got a phone in her apartment? No? Well she did! And she was ever so thrilled with the opportunities to connect with her friends right from her home. The phone machine was bright red color and a sleek modern shape, and was connected to the specially made outlet in the wall of the apartment's hallway, or corridor as they call it in Russian, right between the endless bookshelves and hooks for coats and jackets.
Julia sounded sleepy.
"Are you awake yet?"
"Just barely. It's Sunday, Marusya, what do you want?"
Julia had a tendency to catch on sleep on weekends, but 1 PM was late even for her. Not that it really mattered, but Marusya felt a bit annoyed that her friend was not fully awake to appreciate her brand new idea.
"I thought today... Let's start jogging in the mornings, before school."
'What? Are you crazy? It's too early, I want to sleep."
Marusya heard how Julia's mom corrected her after the words "are you crazy" - she was such a polite lady, perhaps the best manners in town.
"No, listen to me. Remember how we always go on and on about loosing a couple of kilograms?"
"Well..."
"Well they don't shake off all by themselves, Julia. Do you want it or not?"
The fast and frank tactic always worked best with her friend, and Julia gave up. It did not take even 2 minutes to convince her that jogging early in the morning, before school starts, was the best idea ever,
And so they started jogging. The first week went really well. Marusya would run up the concrete steps that connected the lower and upper parts of their courtyard, and wait for Julia by the entrance of her apartment building. Sometimes Julia was already there, looking all adorable in her sleepy state. Her bright green polo shirt added to Marusya's cheery mood.
The town was still asleep, and the air was fresh and crisp in the mornings. It felt like it all belonged to the two friends, only bird songs would interrupt their conversations (or rather Marusya's conversation, as Julia was mostly listening and yawning). As soon as they passed the courtyard, they started jogging towards the direction of the long tree lined alley which led to the stadium, if you go right, or to the truck trailer factory if you go straight. They tried the factory route, and it worked well, but soon they got bored with it (or rather Marusya got bored, as Julia felt way too sleepy to have an opinion). The stadium was closer and the girls could just run in circles - easy, predictable and it felt like they were real athletes or something. The stadium, surprisingly, was open day and night, and the new pavement was very smooth - easier on feet compared to the asphalt pavement of the pine trees alley. Marusya and Julia made a couple of circles when suddenly a familiar male figure appeared on the stadium.
"Who's that? Is he who I think he is?" Marusya asked her now awakened friend.
"He sure is," Julia said.
The familiar figure started moving at a jog towards Marusya and Julia. With every step, they felt like hiding under the long benches or disappearing through the crack of the fence.
"Is there another entrance to the stadium?"
"It's too late, Marusya. Let's just smile and say hello."
Julia was surprisingly grown up sometimes, very sensible for someone who was whole six months junior.
But even Marusya couldn't deny that indeed it was too late to hide, and now she only wished she could turn into a fly from the Russian fairy tale and fly away. Or maybe land on his nose and bite it. Or maybe just tickle it until he sneezes.
"Oh hello!"
"Hello Dmitri Petrovich," said the girls together as if they were in the classroom.
"And here I am thinking what happened to Marusya lately? She became so slim suddenly."
"I've always been slim," Marusya thought and before she realized what's happening, she heard her voice saying:
"I've always been slim."
Dmitri Petrovich chuckled and continued running, and the girls also continued running in the direction opposite of him.
"He's just so sleezy," Julia said.
"I will never hear the end of it," Marusya said.
"Don't pay any attention to him."
"That would be the best thing to do," Marusya agreed with her very sensible young friend.
Good plan!
The very same day, after Marusya and Julia came back each to their apartment where their moms had already prepared breakfast and left for work, the girls took showers, changed into their uniforms and went to school. And sure enough, the very first class in Marusya's schedule was PE which she hated with a passion, if that's possible, even though she overgrew the stage when she hated pretty much everything with a passion, but her feelings toward PE class only deepened after the morning encounter.
"Oh hello, and who is this? Who so slender enters the class today? I can hardly recognize you, Marusya."
Poor Marusya. If she could, she would punch him right in the face. But she couldn't. Not the PE teacher. Not any teacher, for that matter. It was not okay for students to bully other students, but it was quite all right for teachers to bully students, at least for some teachers.
"Maybe you need prescription glasses," Marusya hardly could believe her own tongue. "I've always looked this slender."
Rise and Write 36-42
* * *
I like that Maruysa's thoughts get spoken out loud. What a skunk for a teacher to bully.
ReplyDeleteNatalia-I'm not finding the actual link, so haven't posted this last group, so I'll get caught up once I no longer have my technical difficulties.
ReplyDeleteDo you see the link in this post -
Deletehttp://outofthewriterscloset.blogspot.com/2015/09/rise-and-write-week-6-prompts-36-42.html ? Let me know.