Hands

Jul. 4th, 2013 09:41 pm
pixietastic: (rainbow legs)
[personal profile] pixietastic
3

Mine are sticky and three years old, dirt trapped under the nails, crumbs caked in the crevices, the sweet smell of summer lilacs drifting in through the open kitchen window. I place my palm against hers, study her dry cracked skin, how long the middle finger is standing taller than the rest, the thin gold band of her wave-shaped wedding band, a soft subtle gold with silver accents, the diamonds are small, her bony hands so much bigger than my own. I ask "will I have hands like yours when I'm bigger mommy?".

She laughs, "maybe, I hope not, mine are all dried out from too many dishes and all that hard soap from scrubbing your socks. Should we go outside and play my dear?"

And we do, we play, and we laugh, and I admire her glamor, her nails long and thin, crowning her bony fingers. I admire her face, it's perfectly sun-kissed color, her thick cascading blond mane, her perfect grey-green eyes, she's my idol, tiny and perfect, I want hands like hers when I'm grown.

***


12
I hoist myself onto the rooftop, the sun has set as I scribble by streetlight into my diary, ink-stained and calloused, they tell the beginning of my story, "no one understands, no one listens, here I am world, twelve is so hard". A noise, a summons, a demand to return to the barracks for slumber, junior high is war and the soldiers must be well rested come morning, he insists holding the door open as I scamper inside, "wash up, and I'll grab you a pastry" he says.

I smile, swing down from my rooftop, hiking boots crushing gravel beneath my feet.

***


16
Nails bit down to the quick, fingers chewed and mangled, she sit on my bed, half a liter of vodka consumed between us, 16 and barely been kissed. We start, desperately searching, desperate and craving, acceptance, lust, love, she and I, our hands, entwined, lost, devouring each other, etching pieces of ourselves into one anothers' skin.

***


19

Sliding the ring onto the finger , his promise, his purchase, the second one seals the deal, I am his.

***


21

His rise and fall, the echoing sentiment when I refuse to comply, "you're MINE, you're MINE," he repeats as the bile rises in my throat, the same words he cursed at me when I dared to speak up, when I dared to object to the way he threatened the children. Twenty-one with no direction, afraid to leave and afraid to stay. I pack my things, I pack my children, secure them safely in their seats. His reaching for the pot that moments later sails past my head.

"You threw that at me!" I accuse.

"If I'd thrown it at you I wouldn't have missed!" he replies, his reaching for my throat.

***


27

The baby coo's from her place on my chest, her tiny month old fingers entwined with the necklace, you bought me, our baby daughter, tugging at the rings of my pendant.

Theirs, so precious and small grasping mine as we walk, my eldest on my right, her younger sister on my left, the baby on my chest, we hold togther.

"Mommy?" Inquires MiddleSpawn, "when I grown up, will I have hands like yours?"

"Or how about me?" The eldest pipes up.

I laugh, "maybe," I say. I look down at them, nails chipped, middle finger longer than the rest, skin dried and calloused pulled over bony fingers, palm to palm with my daughters, one on each side, and smile, "I have my mothers hands."


This is my entry for week 7, LJ Idol, topic: "Hands".

Date: 2013-07-05 02:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Because this last image was so crucial to surviving last year after Gracie was so sick and I was so sick and so down I am posting it here, because every time I see this picture I cry just a little bit, somehow it symbolizes all we went through, with her tiny fingers hanging on.

bbgg

Date: 2013-07-05 03:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] helenix.livejournal.com
Beautiful. All of it. Great concept. Well done.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:33 pm (UTC)

Date: 2013-07-06 02:16 am (UTC)
ext_80205: a pink haired girl holding a guitar with a broken string (& hearts ;)
From: [identity profile] meepalicious.livejournal.com
What a beautiful picture and a beautiful story. I especially loved the last line.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you so much!

Date: 2013-07-07 01:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cheshire23.livejournal.com
OK, crying now. So much beautiful here.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you, this comment means so much. My partner proofed it for me, and at the end he was teary, he's always so stoic, I giggled and told him even if I go home on this entry it was worth writing just for his reaction.

Date: 2013-07-05 05:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adoptedwriter.livejournal.com
Beautiful descriptions! Love this! AW

Date: 2013-07-09 03:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you so much.

Date: 2013-07-05 04:11 pm (UTC)
ext_224364: (Will Graham)
From: [identity profile] x-disturbed-x.livejournal.com
So interesting with what you did with hands. :) I like how you went through the years describing what could be considered so simple.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:34 pm (UTC)

Date: 2013-07-05 06:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kajel.livejournal.com
The descriptions and using your hand to move through different points in your life was very inspired. Great job.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you much. And thanks for reading.

Date: 2013-07-06 06:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] halfshellvenus.livejournal.com
I liked the structure of this very much, both the use of your hands and how they reflected your life at different ages (especially "Married" followed by "Persecuted"), and then the way the first and last parts mirrored each other.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you, I think it's always a challenge to do time shift type pieces effectively, I'm glad it came out well.

Date: 2013-07-06 12:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] witches.livejournal.com
I love this and funnily enough I did consider doing a similar sort of thing myself when I was mulling over the ideas! Absolutely loved it (and that photo <3)

Date: 2013-07-09 03:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you. I love when I read other people's work and think "I almost wrote something like that" the lji have mind at work :-P

Date: 2013-07-06 06:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] belleweather.livejournal.com
I love that, especially the baby hands part. My littlest boy's hands are at the stage where they're starting to look like kid hands instead of chubby baby hands. I'm trying not to take this as an indication that it's time to have another baby. I don't know if I'm succeeding.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Oh it is almost painful to see them grow from baby humans to small people, I think if I could I'd always have baby hands to nom on (and feet) I'm sadly not nearly as prepared to be enthralled with the inevitable house of teen madness that generally follows an eye blink after babyhood.

Date: 2013-07-07 02:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tatdatcm.livejournal.com
I love the beauty in this and that you didn't shy away from the pain either. Love how it's come full circle to something so simple and plain and earthy.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you. I'm glad it came across well.

Date: 2013-07-07 03:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] acalculatedname.livejournal.com
now THAT'S what they call a time-shift narrative!

i'm really glad to hear that this pauses in a comparatively happy place after the 19-21 stages.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Life improved considerably in the last 5 or 6 years yes. And thanks for the comment :)

Date: 2013-07-07 07:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] roina-arwen.livejournal.com
I enjoyed this and the photo is adorable - well done.

Date: 2013-07-09 03:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you and thanks for reading.

Date: 2013-07-09 09:13 am (UTC)

Date: 2013-07-09 03:41 pm (UTC)

Date: 2013-07-09 02:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] michikatinski.livejournal.com
Oh, my. The emotions here are as vivid as your descriptions. This is a really strong piece. <3

Date: 2013-07-09 03:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dreamsreflected.livejournal.com
Thank you very much :) and thanks for reading.

Date: 2013-07-09 05:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com
This was really neat - I liked the way you moved through the ages. The structure of the piece itself was something I noticed in a positive way. And I'm kinda rambling and incoherent. Apologies.

Date: 2013-07-09 05:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] n3m3sis43.livejournal.com
The ending of this was so touching.

Date: 2013-07-09 06:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shanns-ljidol.livejournal.com
What a touching and well written entry. I really love this.

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