are you getting bored yet with my photo ideas? i am, frankly. my brain is stagnant and my mojo is awol, that's a great combination, ain't it? i was going to not post anything but the red balls were scattered in the corner so got to make use of them before they get discarded. my problem now is i am lazy to put things back in order so my living room looks like not a living room. admiring my eloquence yet?
but this gives me the opportunity to tell you that story about a red sock. you see in the old country we had this belief that the dead's soul lingers around the earth for forty days before it goes to heaven. but the ghost would not come to you if you wear something red. after my mother died, the children around our compound had been telling us that they had seen my mother's ghost. now, my big brother erick was a big sissy, 23 and afraid of the dark and afraid of ghosts. and he got mad at the neighbourhood children for telling him their stories.
one day, he came home and asked my 11-year-old brother basil to go upstairs and turn on the lights to his bedroom. basil told him that i was upstairs in my room so no need to be afraid of the dark, plus it was still too early for ghosts to be roaming around. erick was terrified, couldn't understand why the witchy sister was communing in the darkness was beyond him. at dinner, he suggested to us, my two sisters, basil and me that we should all sleep together upstairs on the big mat. basil teased him endlessly about him listening to the tales of the neighbourhood children seeing mother's ghost. it didn't help that our two sisters reminded him about mother's promise a long time ago that when she died, she would come back and pull erick's leg while he slept. the more then that erick insisted about the sleeping arrangement that night. so the three young ones agreed but i said no, thank you. he begged so fervently that i join them. after a lot of discussion, i agreed.
he bought red blankets for us to use. he wore a red t-shirt, red underwear and his pair of old red socks. what a nincompoop. and i would have to leave the comfort of my bed for that nonsense. the three younger ones were just making fun of him. but unbeknownst to them, i had an idea.
i was the last to go upstairs because i had stashed away a few ice cubes during dinner and wrapped them in a plastic bag and towel. he's been whining that he wanted to sleep early as he had to be at work early. fine. when i went upstairs he was lying right in the middle of the mat, with basil to his left and one sister to basil's left. the other sister was to his right and i would take the far end.
because it was later than usual, the children, including the big bad brother fell asleep after a few banter and teasing. when all was quiet, i slithered to the bottom of the mat and grabbed erick's foot (his right sock had a big hole in the sole) with my icy cold hands and squeezed it. blood-curdling scream was heard by the neighbours while the three young ones asked him what happened. erick told them that a cold hand grabbed his foot, and that it was mother. basil told him, "are you a fool? it's just tales. ask ate (ate is tagalog for big sister), but i pretended to be sleeping even after they had turned on the lights. the neighbours were calling out if everything was okay. i pretended that i was just waking up but i couldn't hold my laughter any longer. every one laughed until our stomachs were hurting, except of course for erick who was pissed big time.
and that's how i bailed out of sleeping on a mat on the floor with the four hooligans. red socks, my ....
best prank i ever pulled on the so-and-so.
finalist :
https://365project.org/blog/monthly-theme-january-2021-rule-of-thirds
gorgeous red!