"Lost in the Scenery"Drat! Now this is EXACTLY why I won't let myself imagine in color: Because I ALWAYS get lost in the scenery if I do. I have absolutely no sense of time. I am "directionally challenged" in my home town. So what am I gonna do now? Just HAD TO gaze into that painting, didn't you, girl?
I'm in Rome. I was in the Sistine Chapel with a tour group. Why did I let Joyce talk me into coming on this tour? I NEVER go on tours. Joyce is so dang visual. Joyce is so into experiences. Joyce is so gregarious. Yeah, and Joyce is off with the rest of the tour, because she can see things and remain connected to reality. Not me, though. Oh no.
In the sixties they started calling this phenomena "tripping out." Mom and Dad just called it "day dreaming." "Earth to Rani," is what my sister Vickie would say. Yeah, well, earth (or the part of it I'm familiar with) just walked away and boarded the bus without me. Yeah, I don't just get lost in the scenery in my imagination. Oh no, I'm more lost than that. I am a wall flower. Absolutely forgettable. I am so quiet, nobody notices me.
Yeah, they probably said "last call" or something. But I was reading Michelangelo's mind. I was living in his world. So now how do I get back to my hotel before they all head back to America without me, for crying out loud?
"He is a foreign man. He is surrounded by the sound, sound. Angels in the architecture, spinning in infinity. I said hey, hallelujah!" Paul Simon. I love Paul Simon. What would Paul Simon do? He travels all over creation, and he's a poet. THINK, Rani!
I need to ask somebody how to get back there. NO! I need to beg somebody to GUIDE me back there. Or I need a map. In English. Okay, now what am I going to do. Think! Think!
Hello ... does anyone here speak English? No. Well how about this one then, Parlez-vous Francais?
Yeah, like that will help if somebody says, "Oui, je parle francais."
When I was foster-mom to Than and his English wasn't so good, I tried to remember my French, because he'd told me he'd learned French in school in VietNam. But my schoolgirl French and his schoolboy French didn't sound the same, so THAT didn't work. I had wanted to impress upon him some concept, and I just could not find the English words he knew to do it.
Oh! I remember! Finally I found something along those lines in my Bible, and then copied the same chapter and verse out of HIS Vietnamese Bible. I don't remember if that worked, though.
But what the heck!
Bibles, Bibles, this is a CHAPEL for crying out loud. Do they have any Bibles here in Italian? More importantly than that, is there ANY dang verse in the Bible that says, "I am from America and I am lost. I do not even remember the name of my hotel, let alone the street it is on." Obviously THAT is not in the Bible. So pointing to a verse in an Italian Bible and using that to express myself is NOT going to help me out of this situation.
Yeah, well, quit thinking about that.
Universal language. Music is the universal language. Yeah, but not all songs are universal. What songs do I know in English that your average Roman is going to know in Italian? Think! Think!
Pavarotti is the only Italian singer I know. No, wait, Placido Domingo. And he sang a few in English: "Perhaps love is like a resting place, a shelter from the storm ..." SHELTER! Where is my shelter in this foreign land? And WHY isn't my group coming back in search of me?
"Stop and stare. I think I'm moving but I go nowhere ..." Now WHY am I hearing that song by One Republic in my head?
No, wait! That isn't a song in my head. That is the ring tone on my cell phone! Cell phone! Answer it!
My son! Back at home in the USA! Hi, honey; how ya doin'? ... Oh, ... Well did you look in the study? Yeah, under Dad's desk, in that little drawer thing. Say, listen, do you have your computer fired up? ... Good. Listen, honey, could you do a Google Earth for me? ... Yeah. See if you can find the Sistine Chapel in Rome. ... Okay, I'll wait. ... You've got it? Great! Now could you look on my desk next to the calendar for the copy of the itinerary of this tour I'm on and see what the name of my hotel is supposed to be? ... You found it? Great! ... No, I don't need to know the name of it. Just do a Google map for me of the directions from the Sistine Chapel to that hotel, and then STAY on the phone and talk me back there. ... Yeah, I know. Just help me, okay? STOP laughing and start Googling. Thank you!
Fiction by Rani Kaye - All Rights Reserved
Forgot to mention -- This is for Writers Forum Find Your Muse #9 "Language Barrier"
ReplyDeleteI had mistakenly posted the draft of this for a few hours, so some of you may have read the beginning previously. But I finally finished it this afternoon. Hope it passes muster, because fiction ain't my forte.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. I love it. Unique character. And I love the ending.
ReplyDeletewell...it made me smile. first off short paragraphs are a must with me...so you passed...I like larger fonts but managed...your story is cutely flighty like you had too much coffee when you wrote it...this style made me smile...I enjoyed the experience of reading it...let me know if you do more.
ReplyDeleteCute, if not funny ending, Rani.
ReplyDeleteHave to be honest here, the font color was rough on my eyes. Perhaps tone a bit more to a darker tan/brown color as you did with the ending. Font size would be a plus but it's not that big a deal. A few small minor things in puncuation. Curious though, as with one other line and your ending, if this is mean to be spoken alud, ya need quote marks, front and rear. Aaah ... "Google Earth?" That may be just a me thing LOL.
I did like your self-style banter of back and forth to you conversation, it gave credence to the finish rather well. Ya done good with this.
Re font size - if you use Internet Explorer, down at the bottom right corner you will see a magnifying glass and "100%." If you click on that, it will zoom in on the page. I do that a lot of times because I got tired of complaining about small fonts. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't help with the contrast, but larger is still easier to read. I usually go up to about 150%.
If you want to impress someone, tell them you have a medical condition called "presbyopia" ("old vision") so will they please try to understand....LOL
My son in law actually did that to me from Kentucky after he moved down there...he was really lost and since he was new to the area, had no idea how to get home...talked him down so to speak on the cell...aint google earth neat?
ReplyDeleteoh, by the way...great story.
Thanks, bear. I tried to go over and comment on your page, but you ain't got no comment box on your page. RK
ReplyDeleteThis was good Rani...I liked the tone and the humor of it. I used to write fiction also and just stopped somewhere along the way...like anything else, it is a muscle we must flex often if we want to be any good at it...well done!
ReplyDeleteLMAO!!! I could actually see my family DOING this!! lol
ReplyDeleteLoved your story knew I would it gave me a chuckle an that is good thanks for a good short story that makes us smile .
ReplyDeleteI really like this story! I bet it happens to a lot of people! lol Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice story. I imagine this dilemma always happens to tourist (I haven't traveled yet). I like the way you desperately find things that the locals could relate to: the song, music, the bible; but forgetting the resource you have: a mobile phone. Yeah, I definitely think this would happen to me. And thanks to your story, Rani, I know what to do if ever it would occur.
ReplyDeleteOh, Rani, this is priceless. I laughed so hard at the end I almost had tears in my eyes. That was good thinking, however. Thank God for cell phones. :o)
ReplyDelete