Writing In Reverse- Equilibrium

This is an assignment for Government-Sociology class. We chose a person from Bill Sullivan's Turnstile Photography Project, and wrote a story about them. I chose the third woman from the left in this image: http://www.3situations.com/BillSullivanWorks/MT3.html

The title is Equilibrium because the core theme I am trying to express in this story is that everything in life will eventually balance out.

Also, I talk about time zones a little but I didn’t have time to check up on what the actual difference is between Reykjavik and New York. I think it’s only three hours, but I’m not quite sure.

ALSO, Elke (my character) is thirty-seven.


Equilibrium


This had definitely not been the best day of Elke Bjorson's life. She'd gotten up late, spilled coffee on her favorite blouse (and had to change into her least favorite because everything else was in the wash), broken her last good mug, and all that before breakfast. At work, the copier had been broken, her email had failed and the really ugly IT guy had hit on her. Again.

Not to mention, her best friend had called in sick, leaving her to eat lunch with the stupid lower office girls all alone. To top it all off, her twenty-year-old sister Silke had been calling her since two in the morning. Apparently, Silke didn't know about the time difference between New York and Iceland. By the fifth call, at around 3:20 AM, Elke had resolved not to pick up at all.

She pushed through the turnstile, phone in hand, and glanced down at it again. Silke had called nine times since she'd last checked, and Elke really didn't feel like calling her back. Any exchange today would just turn into a huge confrontation.

The train pulled into the station just as Elke arrived on the platform, and she got on, taking a seat near the door. A sleepy-looking young man sat down next to her, and she glanced briefly at him before looking back at her phone. One more missed call. Did Silke not want to leave a message?

She turned off her phone and stuffed it into her purse, leaning back against the seat.

The train ride passed fairly quickly, and Elke hailed a taxi and told the driver where to go. Her apartment was only about ten minutes’ walk from the subway stop, but she was too miserable to walk. Soon the driver pulled up in front of her apartment building and she thrust a twenty at him and mumbled for him to keep the change.

Elke almost knew before she opened the door that the elevator was broken. How couldn’t it be? She smiled ironically to herself as she started up the stairs. The only good thing about bad days like this was that everything consistently sucked.

When she opened the door to her apartment, her cat, Loki, was sleeping next to the phone and answering machine on the hall table. The little red light that indicated “inbox full” blinked. Elke dropped her bag by the door, kicked off her shoes, and grabbed Loki and answering machine, tucking the cat under her arm and flopping down on the couch to listen to her messages.

“Twenty-four new messages and three old messages,” declared the phone in its hollow voice. “Message one. Two-oh-three PM. Friday, July the ninth.”

And then Silke’s voice blared from the tiny speaker, startling both Elke and the cat.

“Elke, why aren’t you picking up your cell phone? I’ve been calling you all day! Call me back!”

“Message two. Two-thirty-four PM. Friday, July the ninth.”

Elke turned off the answering machine and looked over to where she’d dropped her purse. It was comfortable on the couch, and the cat was curled up against her side. She decided to wait until Silke called again, and turned on the TV.

Consistent with the rest of her day, everything on TV sucked. Elke settled on Jerry Springer and let her mind wander, petting the cat absently.

The phone in her lap rang, about five minutes later, and Elke picked up without thinking.

“Hello?”

“Elke, why are you ignoring all my calls?!” It was Silke, of course.

“Sorry, Sil, I’ve had a really awful day,” said Elke, stretching. “And your first call was at around two in the morning…”

“Really?” said Silke, sounding surprised. “Oh, the time zones. I keep forgetting you don’t live in Europe anymore. It was only five for me.”

“Only five,” said Elke skeptically. “Okay, what were you doing up at five?”

“You’ll never guess!” chirped Silke.

Elke waited.

“Oh fine, I’ll tell you, since you’re obviously dying to know!” said Silke happily. “I was freaking out because……………I’m pregnant and I’m getting married!”

Elke’s mouth dropped open. “You WHAT?!”

“Pregnant and married!” repeated Silke. “I’m so happy!”

“You’re marrying the guy that knocked you up?” asked Elke in disbelief.

“Well, DUH,” said Silke. Elke could hear her hopping from foot to foot in excitement, like she used to do when she was a toddler. “And you’ll come back home, right? You’ll come to my wedding?”

“Oh my God, of course!” said Elke. “Oh my-Do you want me to fly over this week? When’s the wedding? When are you due? Oh my God, how far along are you?”

Silke began to chatter happily, and Elke smiled, listening. She imagined telling this story to her future niece or nephew.

“Well, it was shaping up to be the worst day of my life, but then your mother called and said she was getting married…”

~FIN~