This is a new section within Distracted where I share my short stories. I am hoping to make it a fortnightly feature, as I have a few oldies to get through and it will encourage me to write more, so let’s see what happens!
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Beautiful Eyes is inspired by a true story in that my mum would go on and on about how my sister ended up in a&e one time, but I have imagined how it came about.
Hope you enjoy.
Being a young Mum, it isn’t easy to find the time to make yourself feel glamorous, although despite being a little out of practice, Helen felt she was handling it quite well. As she loosens her thick curls, in the mirror she can see her daughter, Scarlet, propped up in amongst the many cushions and cuddly toys that form a makeshift pen on the bed behind her. It was a well-established method of keeping her sat still. Trouble is, Scarlet is nine months old and beginning to crawl. She is as inquisitive and curious as ever. Helen knew this technique wouldn’t last for long.
Tonight, Scarlet watches particularly intently, as her mother constructs a much more elaborate hairstyle than she is used to seeing. She watches her gently twirl her hair around the heated tongs before brushing out the soft curls increasing the volume tenfold. After a generous spritz of hairspray a cloud forms above her mother’s head, on which she places an oversized velvet bow. When the cloud disappears Scarlet sees it is embellished with tiny white pearls along each side. Her mother adjusts the angle of the bow, its pearls sparkle as they catch the light. Scarlet smiles.
She stares at her mother’s reflection watching her cheeks get rosier and her lips plumper. A pink wand appears to lengthen the eyelashes, Scarlet stares, fascinated as she watches them get longer and longer. Her eyes widen as her mother’s eyes seem to double in size. She had never before seen eyes so beautiful.
“You okay baby girl?” Helen dabs her daughter’s nose with the end of the mascara wand. Scarlet scrunches her face up and giggles, waving her arms around to try to get the wand. “Not for you. Not yet!”
Frankie Goes to Hollywood plays on the radio. Helen pulls her baby up by the arms so she’s standing in amongst the pillows, letting her bounce excitedly to the beat.
“Come on, baby girl. We should be getting you to bed, Mummy’s got a date.”
*
Annie the baby sitter arrives at the door and greets Ray with a peck on the cheek. “Alright, Uncle Ray.”
“Annie, come in.” He opens the door and Annie makes her way inside. She has brought her friend with her this time, Caz, who follows behind.
Wow, Ray thought. Caz was strikingly beautiful with a voluptuous womanly figure, it is easy to forget that she is a fifteen year old girl – the same age as his niece. Ray hadn’t met her before. He would surely remember her long vivid red hair, curls cascading right down to her waistline. Helen clambers through the hall blocking his view of the girls, baby in tow. Sensing what is to come, Scarlet starts to cry. Plummeting back to Earth he remembers why the girls have come over. It is the night of the Dinner Dance. An annual affair put on by the factory Ray works in. Although, by the time everyone has sampled the lacklustre food and drank their weight in cheap lager, it’s not so much of a dance as more of a slog. And that’s if enough people can still stand to fill the dance floor, most of them are in their sixties. He is 26 and already feels like he is approaching retirement. Sighing, he takes the screaming baby from Helen’s arms, and sets off to the living room, to soothe her in front of some early evening news. When she quietens down, he takes her into the bedroom and places her into the cot.
Bouncy curls resting on her shoulder pads, Helen turns in the mirror to admire her pencil skirt which clings to every curve of her body. Not bad for a mother, she thinks. She sets about painting her nails in the kitchen, with the young girls watching intently.
“Nice nails Mrs H,” Caz is quick to compliment. She knows she is surplus to requirement in the house this evening and is keen to make a good impression.
Ignoring the girls, Helen delicately layers an aptly named hot pink colour onto her nails, being careful not to smudge the paint with her hand. She closes the bottle and holds it up. “You can paint your nails tonight if I leave these out,” she offers, “feel free.”
“Oh, Thanks Mrs H!” The girls are excited to get their hands on one of dozens of bottles, brimming from the unzipped bag balanced on the table. Annie and Caz eagerly tip the nail varnishes out, and search for their favourites.
Ray walks into the room dressed in an ill-fitting suit jacket and a novelty tie, his company tiepin placed proudly over Homer Simpson’s head. At least it’s not the Christmas one, Helen thought.
The air, dense with Old Spice, rivals the nail varnish fumes; Helen jumps up suddenly, desperate to leave. As she gets up she blows her fingers dry. “Be good tonight, won’t you girls? – Any problems contact us straight away. Ray, love – Did you put the number of the hotel by the phone?”
“Sure did. I’ll be calling to check in after we eat as well, see how you girls are,” he smiled.
“Scarlet’s down in her cot, so she should sleep through. If she wakes, you know what to do.”
“Yes, we’ll be fine, you have fun.”
“We set then?” Ray grins at Helen. Freedom is imminent. It’s unusual for them to have a night off, but now Scarlet is a little older, their opportunities to venture out in the evening are more frequent, especially with lots of nephews and nieces available to help out.
The girls see them to the door and wave their goodbyes before disappearing into the lounge to paint their nails with their chosen colours.
*
Scarlet wakes an hour or so later, but curiously she doesn’t cry. She can hear the girls’ giggling and gossiping over in the lounge as she climbs out of her cot. She crawls the opposite way from the lounge to the quiet, but brightly lit kitchen. Clambering across the linoleum tiles, the colourful nail varnish bottles caught her eye and she grabbed one. Pausing to prop herself up, she looked closely at the thin, wand like shape in a captivating pink. Sitting opposite the oven, she can see her reflection in the stainless steel edge. She can see herself perfectly and just like her mother earlier, she longs for those beautiful eyes. She takes the pink wand out of the bottle and raises it to her eyelashes.
*
The phone rings in the hall. Annie giggles as she leaves the lounge, “Hello?”
“Ah yeah Uncle Ray, she’s fine. Not heard a peep out of her yet.” She puts the phone down. She goes to walk back to the lounge but turns on her feet and walks down the hall towards Scarlet’s bedroom, just in case.