Third Person Distant Exercise
The girl was sitting in the middle of a church. The smell of church incense was in the air and the priest facing the congregation said, “…and there endeth the lesson”. The girl shifted in her clothes and looked over at another girl nearby, an older girl. The older girl looked back and raised her eyebrows, then rolled her eyes. The other members of the congregation were standing and filing out of their pews and the two girls followed their lead. The older girl began walking briskly to the exit and the younger girl hurried to catch up with her.
“I was sweating so much just then.” said the younger girl.
“You’re always sweating” the older girl replied, keeping her eyes forward.
“Do you think anyone noticed?”
“I don’t think anyone cared.”
They walked through the door of the church and the older girl changed direction to go around the side of the church, then followed a small path that lead to a little alcove. The younger girl followed her. The older girl reached into a small bright red vinyl handbag and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. She opened the lid and shook a cigarette loose, which she placed between her lips then rummaged in her bag again till she produced a lighter.
“Mum would kill you if she knew you were smoking” the younger girl said, pulling at the fabric at her armpits.
“I’ll kill you if you tell her” the older girl said and replaced the lighter in her handbag as she took a long drag of her cigarette.
“So, do you think any of the boys saw me sweating?”
“What?” The older girl flicked ash onto the ground, “yeah, maybe. So?”
The younger girls face turned red, “Oh no…” she looked down at the ground.
The older girl took another long drag, closed her eyes, and exhaled a long stream of smoke. She stared at the younger girl for a second, then flicked her cigarette on the ground and ground the toe of her sensible shoe into it.
“Margaret.” she said.
“Yes?” The younger girl said. Beads of sweat were beginning to appear on her forehead.
“You don’t have to worry about boys.”
“I don’t? Why?”
“Because boys will never notice you. Don’t you ever look at yourself in the mirror? Your face is too doughy for a boy to like you, Maggie. You look like a stern schoolteacher already and you’re only ten. Boys can tell you’re no fun without having to even talk to you.”
The younger girls face went redder, “Don’t be so mean.”
The older girl laughed, then bent to the younger girl’s level and poked her hard in the chest. “You’d better hope these grow, Maggie, if you want any hope of getting a man at all.”
The younger girl started crying, then turned and ran. The older girl yelled after her ”That’s if you don’t want to die alone!”
The younger girl looked back in time to see her smile.
