Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
Once upon a time there was a young girl. She was everything a young girl should be – pretty, with long hair that neatly cascaded over slender, gently sloping and not too broad shoulders; perfectly proportioned lips whose edges never turned down at the corners. And a clear and gentle gaze that never dwelt for too long or too directly as to make the recipient uncomfortable. But far and above her most pleasing attribute was her agreeableness – no task was ever too great or arduous, no errand too difficult to run, no request too demanding.
Every day this went on until the young girl became a teenager. Now one would expect her to respond as teenagers do when their effort is required. Firstly, the lips would pull back like the snarl of a fox disturbed from stalking one’s prized layer. And the eyes would maintain fierce contact, daring one to repeat the request. But no, her demeanour never changed – no matter what the request, big or small. As always, her smile spoke the words without sound – “as you wish.”
Many years passed – the teenager became a woman, a wife, a mother.
One day at the monthly School Council meeting, the familiar call rang out “I need a volunteer.” Everyone turned as one to the woman, gazes expectant, awaiting the gentle smile and instant compliance. But this time there was an unexpected silence. They waited. Nothing. Like the demolition of a building after the momentary pause of the detonation, they witnessed her face start to crumble, the mouth quiver and a wail emitted from the depths of her caged soul.
And because of that, they all stood paralysed, as if beholding the tsunami before them and not knowing where to run. So they watched and listened, the sound piercing their ear drums. And then it stopped as suddenly as it began and they witnessed as if in slow motion the rebuilding of the woman standing before them. Like the faltered transmission on an old television, she was rebuilt pixel by pixel before their very eyes.
Until finally, she was whole again, repositioned and refashioned into the woman whose mouth turned up at exactly the correct angle, the agreeable eyes that gazed – not too directly as to make the gazed upon uncomfortable. The woman who reflected what the viewer expected to see. And the woman whose only word they heard was yes.
And they all breathed out as one, comforted that all was well in the world they knew. They had their volunteer.