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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 15, 2011 20:12:25 GMT
Andy was smoking a cigarette as he ambled down the main street of Wardenstown. He had smoked two joints that morning and after a giant sandwich in his house he decided that he was going to sit in the square and watch the pigeons dart around. He loved to watch the pigeons when he was high – he could see mischief in their beady little eyes and he loved the way they seemed so frantic to get to wherever they were going and the way they mistrusted and yet trusted every single human they came into contact with.
Andy had shoved a beige hat over his long lank dark brown hair that was currently beginning to slide backwards off his head but Andy was too stoned to notice the impending peril of his favourite hat. He had three pounds in the pocket of his jeans, a packet of cigarettes and a box of matches in the other pocket. He was tired of everything at the moment. His life had become so monotone, so predictable that it was beginning to hurt.
Andy stepped into the square and sat down on a park bench. He looked about him, at the overcast but bright sky, at the circle of buildings, at the cars whizzing down the street, at the grand town hall that faced him and he smiled. Andy loved Wardenstown, he loved it. He had lived in Wardenstown his entire life and there was nowhere like it. Andy smoked his cigarette right down to the filter and then he pulled another one out of the packet and lit it. He breathed smoke out through his nose and smiled, he couldn’t be happier than when he was at home.
wordcount;; two hundred and eighty five
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 15, 2011 21:19:07 GMT
"Kaspar! Don't go near the road!" Anastazja Czarnowska chased after her four year old son as he left the safety of the footpath for what he saw as the fun of the road. The Polish girl got a hold of the brace of his little dungarees just as he reached the edge of the pavement. The boys laughter filled the air as he stopped and turned to face Ana. "Why do you insist on scaring me when we're by a road, Kaspar?" Her son flashed her a charming smile that made Anastazja think how much he looked like his father, then gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek and declared, "I sorry, mumia!" It didn't matter that Kaspar was only the young, the child already knew how to play his mother like a fiddle; Ana for the life of her couldn't stay mad with him when her called her mumia. It was just too cute.
She took the little boys hand and led him away from being so close to the road. "How about, we go to the square and see the pigeons?" Kaspar was odd that way; he was completely obsessed with the birds. He nodded excitedly and let Ana lead him the rest of the way down the road. After they crossed the road in front of the post office, the little boy went running on round the corner so he could see the birds. Ana pondered if she should run after him again, but the twenty-year-old was too tired to try and keep up a pace. Anyway, he was safe enough now. She turned the corner a couple of minutes after Kaspar and saw him standing on the grass, looking out over the square for any brown and white pigeons. He had a routine to spy them out first, then watch the grey ones.
Ana crossed the rest of the way and entered the square, picking a nice spot on a bench to rest her feet and take a break while Kaspar was occupied. She was searching for her lighter to take what she viewed as a well deserved cigarette break, when out of the corner of her eye she saw Kaspar take a mad charge and start to run over to what she thought was a pigeon, but was actually a young guy sitting on a bench. She pushed her cigarettes back in her pocket and was up in a flash running after her son. "Kasper! Come here now!" As usual she was ignored and he kept on running. It was time for Anastazja to pull out the big guns, "Chodz tutaj teraz, Kaspar!" The little boy slowed down for a second, aware that if he was shouted at in Polish his mother was getting annoyed. The hesitation was all Anastazja needed to catch up and grab him by the dungarees again. He looked up and grinned at his mother, then he giggled and went off in the other direction. With a sigh, Ana looked at the guy that had been the target, "Sorry about that, he isn't very aware of social etiquette."
word count 516
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 15, 2011 21:45:42 GMT
Andy was in a bit of a daze as he smoked his second cigarette lowly, resting carefully between his index and middle finger of his left hand. He wasn’t left handed, he just smoked with his left handed in order to avoid questions from his mother – she knew that he smoked now but when he was eleven-years-old he had felt the need to hide it, not that she particularly cared when she found out. He was staring straight ahead of him and waiting quietly for something to happen to him. Just then, something happened. Andy was changing his leg that balanced on his other leg to give his sore knee a rest. He looked up and saw a small, blond, awesome looking child running full steam towards him. He laughed slightly at this little boy and sat forward slightly, bending his legs back under the bench before lifting the cigarette to his mouth and taking another draw.
A young woman called out to the running child who hadn’t yet managed to reach Andy and then she caught up with him and grabbed him by his dungarees. Andy always thought that dungarees were the coolest clothes for little children. They looked stupid on adults, but they were awesome on little kids. He took another draw of his cigarette as the young woman turned to him and wearily said, “Sorry about that, he isn’t very aware of social etiquette.” She had a definite accent to her voice, Andy wanted to say Polish but he thought that would be racist. Just because lots of Polish people had moved into Wardenstown didn’t mean every single foreign person was Polish.
He smiled at her and coughed slightly, “Don’t worry about it, he’s only wee.” He told her with a shrug, “He’s really cute.” He added, looking at the little child as he began running frantically after the pigeons who were flapping in panic in reaction to the little boy, “Do you need a light?” He asked, noticing the unlit cigarette in her hand and then unintentionally glancing at the space beside him on the bench. He didn’t want to insinuate that she had to sit with him or anything, but he’d enjoy the company of anyone. He smiled at her slightly and waited for her response.
wordcount;; three hundred and eighty one
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 15, 2011 22:28:22 GMT
Ana smiled at the response she recieved from the guy, feeling a little bit of pride when he called her son cute. "Thanks. If you think Kaspar is cute when he's being hyperactive, you're a stronger person than I am." She laughed softly at the end of her sentence, making it seem a little bit like a joke even though she wasn't sure if it was. "Oh well, he has the pigeons to take the energy out of him now." She said that sentence more to herself than to the guy, feeling a little bit of relief that he would be tired when they went home and might actually go to sleep at a normal hour for a four year old. She glanced away from watching her son again when she was asked if she needed a light. Ana looked at her hand and realised she was still holding a cigarette. "Yeah, if you wouldn't mind. I can't find one to save my life today." She was quite proud of herself for using that phrasing; Ana hadn't been too sure why people said they couldn't do things to save their lives, and wondered why it was a life or death matter, but she was slowly starting to figure it out. She placed the cigarette between her lips and took the lighter from the guy she was dubbing benchboy, glad to finally have it lit and a breath of smoking in her lungs.
She took a couple of drags of the cigarette in quick succession and then looked back to benchboy, "Do you mind if I sit down?" Ana wasn't sure why she asked for his approval, because after she said it she sat down regardless of his answer. She rested back on the bench and crossed one leg over the other, now getting the brief relaxation that had got interrupted at the other bench. It wasn't the most comfortable of places, but Ana was easily pleased. She was quiet for another minute or two as she finished her cigarette and used its remains to light another one, and then realised she was being quite rude to benchboy. She had been staring at the ground in front of her and now looked at him. "I should really introduce myself since my four year old tried to rugby tackle you." Ana stated the obvious and then laughed slightly, wondering if she had just made it awkward by stating her social faux pas. "I'm Anastazja. Well, Ana. And the little fireball is Kaspar, obviously." She took another couple of drags of her cigarette, waiting to see if he would respond.
word count 436
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 16, 2011 15:31:14 GMT
Andy smiled as he handed her the packet of matches and watched her light her cigarette and take frantic draws of the damaging chemicals wrapped in crisp white and orange paper. He took a draw of his own cigarette and then coughed slightly, unable to control the lung spasms that he felt when he was smoking sometimes. After he coughed, he breathed the cigarette smoke out of his nose and looked over at the small boy who was merrily chasing the pigeons. His thoughts were interrupted when the girl said, “Do you mind if I sit down?” Andy looked at the space beside him and then back up at her, “No, no, not at all, go ahead.” He said a little too quickly, or perhaps he said it slowly, he could never judge the speed of his speech when he was high.
The girl seemed extraordinarily relieved to be seated and Andy smiled slightly at the side of her face and then took a draw of his cigarette. They smoked in silence for a couple of minutes, she watched her son while Andy considered the implications of shoe laces. He finished his cigarette before her and set about finding himself a new cigarette, it was slightly bent about half way down and he frowned at it – it was the penultimate cigarette in the pack so it would have to do. There was no snobbery among those who didn’t have enough money to buy a new packet of cigarettes. “I should really introduce myself since my four-year-old tried to rugby tackle you.” She said suddenly, Andy looked at her and smile slightly and she laughed, “I’m Anastazja. Well, Ana. And the little fireball is Kaspar, obviously.” She informed him. Andy nodded his head slightly.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ana.” He told her and then laughed at his own formal reaction to her introduction. He could hardly control what he said when he was out of it – a blessing or a curse, he’d never really been able to decide. “Kaspar is an awesome name.” He informed her and then laughed, “My name is Andy.” He said, gesturing to himself with his cigarette rather redundantly and then he took a couple of short draws of the cigarette. He held his breath for five whole seconds and then breathed it out of the corner of his mouth. “Where are you from?” He asked her, “If you don’t mind me asking.” He added, hoping not to offend, he was pretty confident that wasn’t an offensive question, but just in case, it was better to be safe than sorry.
wordcount;; four hundred and thirty four
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 16, 2011 23:42:02 GMT
Ana grinned and held back a chuckle when benchguy said he was pleased to make her acquaintance. The phrase just seemed so alien coming from him, even though she had only just met the guy. She was quite pleased when he complimented her sons name, "I thought so too! My dad wasn't too thrilled, but you can't argue with awesome!" She smiled when benchguy, now to be known as Andy, returned the favour of an introduction. "Well, pleased to meet you, Andy." She gave a small wave, even though it was quiet pointless in their conversation. It was like a compulsive little habit she had when she was being introduced to someone; most people shook hands, Ana waved. Kaspar took after her odd behaviour, except the child was fond of grabbing peoples knees during introductions, but Ana couldn't figure out why yet.
When Andy asked Ana where she was from, she wasn't surprised or even offended at how soon he was asking the question. Since she had moved to Wardenstown her homeland was generally one of the first topics of conversation thanks to her oh so distinctive accent. "I don't mind; I get it quite often," she replied. Even though she had been asked it often, she wasn't really sure how to answer. Did she say just Poland, or did she mention that she spent a bulk of her first ten years of life living in Hungary? Or did she go all out and say Hungary, Krasnystaw and Warsaw? Oh the options! Deciding she was thinking too deeply into the matter, Ana went with one of the less awkward answers. "I'm from Poland, but I have the added fun of a Hungarian twist in my accent." She still hadn't shook the Hungarian tinge out of her accent, which she found to be quiet strange.
She took a draw of her cigarette and then wondered if she should ask the question back. Obviously not where he was from, but if he had lived in Wardenstown his whole life. It seemed like a pretty silly thing, but Ana thought it would be rude to not ask anything in return. She racked her brain for a question that was polite to ask to a person that she had just met. "I take it you were born in Wardenstown?" It wasn't much of a question, or a statement. It was better than nothing, she guessed. She looked out to the square again, checking to make sure that Kaspar was okay. He had come across another child and they appeared to be pretending to be pigeon hunters, so Ana was put to rest that her son was fine. She turned back to Andy, and got a question in her head that could go either way really."So do you have any kids? You looked far too calm when Kaspar was charging at you to have no experience..." She ended her sentence with a soft laugh to try and make it more light-hearted; after she had said the question it sounded a bit weird to her.
word count 507
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 17, 2011 16:53:14 GMT
Andy smirked at the idea of Ana’s father being furious at the proposed name for her unborn child. What if Kaspar had been a girl? Would she have been called Kat, like the girl from the Casper the Friendly Ghost movies? Andy decided to keep this idea to himself as it didn’t seem plausible and it was too complicated to explain if she hadn’t seen the movies. Andy waved back at her when she said she was pleased to meet him and he smiled a small, stoned smile and then licked his forever dry lips and coughed slightly. He looked over at the small, blonde boy frolicking amongst the panicked pigeons and then took a draw of his cigarette and breathed it slowly, luxuriously out of his nose.
A smile invaded Andy’s features when Ana said that she didn’t mind his question about her accent – he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, a weight he had scarcely been aware was present. She explained that she was Polish, which made Andy rejoice inside that his inner racism was in fact intuition rather than stereotyping. He arched an eyebrow slightly when she added the Hungarian element into the mix and he nodded, unsure of how to respond to that. She asked, or rather assumed, that he had been born in Wardenstown. “Yeah, well. Technically I was born in Dundonald, but I’ve lived in Wardenstown all my life.” He explained in a rambly, stoned sort of way and he pushed his hat forward so it covered more of his hair. Dundonald was a large town that had really become a suburb of the capital city but refused to admit it.
Ana told him that he seemed experienced with children and asked if he had any, he paused for a split second, processing the question. Had he any children? No! Of course not! He hadn’t even had sex! “Not that I know of,” he chuckled masochistically, “I don’t have any real experience with youngsters. I’m just too…” he paused for a second, wondering if it would freak her out that he was high, he decided against announcing to this young mum that he was under the influence and instead opted for the ambiguous, “Tired to react quickly.” He took a couple of quick draws of his cigarette and then looked at her, squinting slightly, “How long have you lived in Wardenstown, and what the fuck brought you here of all places?” He demanded, forgetting all pretences of questions that it was okay to ask a stranger and plummeting in at the deep end.
wordcount;; four hundred and thirty five
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 17, 2011 20:16:43 GMT
Ana watched Andy for a moment as he waved back at her then licked his lips, and then tutted at him. "If you have dry lips, saliva will do nothing for them." She put her cigarette between her lips so she wouldn't get ash everywhere, then opened her bag and rummaged around through all the crap she had gathered in it since its purchase, then came across a little tin of Vaseline. She held it out to him and smiled, "That'll be far more helpful for them." Was it weird to give him her vaseline? Her mind was telling her there was some sort of innuendo that could come out of the gender, but it wouldn't specifically come to her. She found it quite peculiar that Andy had spent his whole life in Wardenstown, even though she had presumed it of him. The idea of being in the one place for an entire life was strange to her, but then it would probably seem strange to other people the way she had travelled back and forth growing up. "Not that you know of? Jeez, you sound like Quagmire from Family Guy!" She laughed at her little joke, living in the hope that he would get the reference and it wouldn't just go off into an awkward silence. Ana nodded when he said about being too tired to react to Kaspar running, empathising with the feeling.
It took Ana by surprise when Andy asked her how long she had been in Wardenstown, and then finished the question with an inquiry as to why she had moved there. It was quite blunt she thought, considering they had only been making small talk for a few minutes. She was about to reply when it hit her; it had been nine months since she had left her home country. It had seemed like so much longer than that, maybe it was Kaspar having a birthday in Northern Ireland that weirded her out. "I've been in Wardenstown for about nine months now," she replied, and then took to think about what reason she could give for moving there. She wasn't fully sure of why it had been Wardenstown she had chose to move to, or even why she had left Poland instead of just moving home to Krasnystaw. "I guess I wanted a better chance for Kaspar growing up, and when I finished my degree there weren't many jobs going in Warsaw. I chose Wardenstown because... Well, I'm not sure. I guess it looked like a nice place to raise a child and I wanted to come to Northern Ireland..." By the end of her reply Ana was really just thinking aloud about why she had moved to Wardenstown, she stared off for a moment in thought and then looked back to Andy and smiled. "You sound like you really love the place," she joked.
word count 479
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 17, 2011 20:34:28 GMT
Initially Andy was confused by her statement about dry lips because he had licked them almost subconsciously, then he laughed slightly and took the tin of Vaseline from her and looked at it for a couple of seconds. “Thanks.” He said, and then looked at it for a few seconds. What was he supposed to do? Kiss the Vaseline? He knew that he had to transfer it onto his lips. He remembered that he had seen his sister rub her fingers round the edge of the tin and smear it onto her lips. Andy followed suit and then smiled at her.
Andy laughed and pretended to be knowledgeable of the Family Guy franchise but he didn’t know what that really meant, he’d only watched snippets of episodes. Then he smiled at her, laughing slightly in his head that a foreign girl knew more about this phenomenon than he did. He was one of the only guys he knew that didn’t watch the cartoon religiously. “That’s me.” He said, unconvincingly. “Nine months? That’s cool.” He said with a smile, he tucked his hair behind his ear and then took a couple more draws of his cigarette. ‘That’s cool’? What sort of statement was that? He shrugged it off and sighed slightly.
Her reasons for wanting to come to Northern Ireland never would have occurred to Andy. He was one of those people who wished, wistfully that maybe he would someday move far away – somewhere far away and incredible – but he never had the guts to leave, never had the initiative to make it happen. “I do love it, in my own way, I just don’t why people would choose to come to this country out of all the other ones.” He laughed slightly, smoked the final draw of his cigarette and stubbed it out on the bench. He touched his pocket sadly as he realised he only had one more cigarette to do him for the next day – he had to wait for him to get some money from his paycheque.
wordcount;; three hundred and forty
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 19, 2011 22:17:23 GMT
Ana watched in amusement as Andy took the little tin from her and then looked at it briefly in confusion. She was intrigued as to what he was thinking, as it seemed so very obvious to her that he should just put some on his finger and rub it onto his lips. Unless he had taken it in the wrong way and thought this was Ana's subtle way of saying 'lube it up, big boy'. That was weird on several levels. Eventually he caught on and put some on his lips then grinned at her. Ana smiled back and laughed. "Better?" She asked.
She took a last draw of her cigarette and exhaled the smoke through her nose, before dropping the butt onto the ground and putting it out with her shoe. Ana wanted to light another one up, but she didn't want to give Andy the impression she was a chain-smoking, child-choking mother, even if the first part of it was true. Instead she started to tap out a little tune on her leg with one hand to keep her attention. "Yeah, it feels like it's been a lot longer though. Kaspar acts like he's never lived anywhere else." His reaction to a new environment had been the most worrying thing for Ana when they moved, and it had taken until October for her to settle because she was certain he was happy at that point.
Ana smirked when Andy said he didn't know why people picked Northern Ireland out of everywhere in the world. She guessed she was a bit of an expert on the subject, having picked that country despite the options she had with her language skills. "You have it pretty good here, education and medical wise, and all that other jazz. The one thing you are severely lacking here is a beer festival; Krasnystaw is famous for the Chmielaki." Ana was always fond of the festival, she would go back and visit with her parents during the festival weekend as a sort of family tradition. She had competed for the title of Miss Chmielaków but got disqualified for being too drunk and falling over. Ah Poland. "Does Wardenstown have any sort of drinking festivals? I haven't come across anything yet..." And of course festivals dedicated to alcohol are all that matter in life.
word count 386
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 20, 2011 20:32:57 GMT
Ana seemed to find Andy’s difficulty with the Vaseline tin. He was almost embarrassed for himself, but Andy wasn’t really the type of guy to get embarrassed so he just felt mildly uncomfortable for a couple of seconds. He laughed a little bit when she asked him if it was better, thinking that it was some sort of joke – his lips felt greasy, was that an improvement? “Er, yeah.” He said with a half-hearted smile, then he licked his lips and wrinkled his nose at the disgusting feeling of the petroleum.
Andy scratched his chin and smiled at her and looked at her son who was still playing with the pigeons and he wondered what it would be like to move house or to move country. This kid had had more life experience than Andy had in that department. Andy had lived in the same house ever since he was born and couldn’t imagine life anywhere else. “Kids adapt to stuff so quickly.” He said wisely, drawing on knowledge he had from meeting other kids who had moved during primary school and had immediately fitted in. He’d only ever met one kid who was homesick and that was a girl called Lu and she had cried every day for two weeks and then she got over it and started to steal people’s pencils.
Listening to Ana’s reasons for picking Northern Ireland Andy figured that in the eyes of a young parent those would be great reasons to move to the country. “Education system’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” He muttered under his breath, thinking how he had been discarded by his school when he had begun to do badly at school in third year of his grammar school education. Not that any hassling from them would have helped, but it would have been good to show for it. “Nah, there’s Oktoberfest in Belfast...” He suggested, then he frowned, “But that’s not till October... obviously.” He laughed slightly and then looked at her, “Most of my weekends are like a drinking festival.” He boasted, “We should go out sometime. I’ll get you so drunk you won’t remember your own name.” He assured her with a wicked grin.
wordcount;; three hundred and sixty eight
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 22, 2011 23:28:51 GMT
Ana nodded at Andy when he pointed out that kids adapted quickly to things. "Yeah. I really lucked out that he was so young, and didn't really notice much of a change. Well, except for the language difference. He refused to start saying colours and letters in anything but Polish until I started to bribe him with sunglasses and toy cars," she laughed as she told him that, realising how weird it was that a little boy would gladly take sunglasses as an exchange for doing something his mother wanted him to do. Ana felt kind of worried that she was turning into one of those creepy mothers that just constantly talked about their kids when the person they were talking to were like 'eh, shut up.' She hoped she wasn't like that, but the amount she was saying about Kaspar made her feel a little weird about it.
Ana was going to tell Andy that the education system in Northern Ireland couldn't be as bad as the one in Poland, but then she figured she couldn't give that confidently since she had finished her education in Poland. That reason in general was starting to seem a little hypocritical to her since she had a degree. She dropped the subject in her head, thinking it would be better to move on that go through all the ins and outs of educaiton to herself. She was glad when he went on to tell her about a drinking festival in Belfast. She tried not to laugh when he bragged about how much he would drink of the weekends. "You do realise you're talking to a Polish girl, right? I'll drink you under the table!" She always thought the Russians got too much credit for being a nation of drinkers; the Polish could down the vodka as good as the rest of them. "Forgetting my name would be a new one, I've forgotten where I've lived before but that was the worst."
In her typical chain smoking fashion, Ana couldn't resist lighting up a new cigarette after a few minutes. She noticed that Andy was no longer smoking and held out her packet to him, "Do you need another one?" She set the pack down on the bench beside her so he could work away if he did want to take one, and returned her own cigarette to her lips, taking a couple of quick drags in succession. She blew the smoke out through her nose and wondered what she could say to continue their conversation that wouldn't be social suicide, but was still socially acceptable for a conversation with a guy in the square. She mentally applauded herself as she came up with something, and then turned to Andy and smiled, "So, what do you do during the week since you spend your weekends with your personal drinking festival?"
word count 476
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 23, 2011 19:30:52 GMT
Andy nodded at the idea of Kaspar’s resistance to the language change. How could he respond well to changing a language he had been learning since birth? He smiled at the idea of the tiny boy wearing sunglasses that were too large – forgetting for a moment that there were sunglasses specifically for kids. “English is the worst language ever.” He declared, waving his cigarette hand – which currently was lacking a cigarette – “Too many people speak English! I’d rather speak a minority language.” He went to take a draw of the invisible cigarette and then dropped his hand sadly into his lap as the realisation set in. He began contemplating rolling himself a fresh joint but he didn’t like to in public and he didn’t want this savvy yummy mummy to think any less of him by doing so.
A loud laugh – perhaps slightly too loud a laugh – escaped Andy’s lips when she told him that she’d drink him under the table. He had never met anyone that could do that. He had a liver of steel and he loved that about himself. “I accept that challenge!” He practically shouted, getting to his feet momentarily and pointing at her before resuming his seat and smiling a cheeky grin at her. “The worst thing I’ve ever done was roll down a hill naked.” He said, arching his eyebrows and smirking at the memory. That had definitely hurt in the morning. He had been as high as a kite as well as drunk as a skunk when the event had transpired and it had been a dare – it wasn’t like it was just something he had decided to do completely unprovoked. Well, not so much a dare as suggested by one of his friends and then taken too far...
Ignoring the rules of social conduct, Andy threw himself at Ana and hugged her as tightly as he could when she offered him a cigarette, crushing her cigarette offering hand against his flat stomach. “You are my god!” He exclaimed, planting a kiss on her cheek – that was the weed taking over, not his own actions. “Thank you so much!” He continually exclaimed until the cigarette was lit and in his mouth. He made a guttural noise in his throat when he took his first draw and then lay back on the bench and looked at her with a wide smile on his face. “Thank you.” He whispered again. He smiled at her question and then laughed out loud, “I’m training to be a youth worker.” He spluttered and awaited her incredulity. Everyone always reacted with “YOU?!” and got a look on their faces that said ‘how hypocritical!’ “What do you do?” He returned the question with another smile.
“”
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Post by ana czarnowska on Mar 28, 2011 21:07:03 GMT
"As much as I enjoy the language and living here, I have to agree; English isn't that great of a language." Although Ana liked doing her degree in it and liked to speak it when she could, it wasn't Ana's favourite. It was so much nicer to say things in other languages, Russian and Hungarian especially in her opinion. She put her right hand over her heart in an attempt to give a sort of vow to Andy, "If it makes you feel any better, he's going to grow up speaking the same three languages I spoke when I was growing up. Maybe Russian too if he fancies it." Ana wanted to put in as much effort as she could to keep Kaspar aware of his heritage with the Polish and Hungarian. She probably should have taught him French for his Belgian roots, but her mad skills only extended so far. "Do you speak any other languages?" She asked.
Ana gave a laugh when Andy excitedly accepted her challenge. He probably underestimated her for her gender, but Ana was quietly confident she would come out victorious in their drinking contest. "Oh good, set a time and a place and it's on." She was quite happy to have someone she could go out with drinking at least once. It had been so long since she'd had a night out, and she was sure Lara would happily oblige to babysit for her. "Naked?" She repeated at his memory. She winced a little at the thought of it; rolling down a hill clothed would be bad enough but naked would just bring along a whole new level of horrible. "What in the name of god would possess you to roll down a hill with no clothes on?" For some reason, the story made Ana think she could quite happily be good friends with Andy.
Ana was intially shocked at the bodyslam of a hug she recieved from Andy. And it just got weirder when he planted a big kiss on her cheek. She was rigid with surprise for a few more seconds and then relaxed a bit, letting a chuckle escape from her lips. She had never seen anyone so excited to get a cigarette before; he was like a child opening a present on Christmas day and finding out it was exactly what he had wanted all year. "You're very welcome," she smiled after the seconds thanks he gave her. She took a draw of her cigarette and blew the smoke out through her nose and she raised an eyebrow in surprise at Andy when he said he was training to be a youth worker. "Hm, I didn't expect you to reply with that, I must say." From what she had learnt about Andy so far in their brief conversation, it seemed like too tame of a career for him. "I expected you to come out with 'oh I'm in a band' or a video games tester, or something along those lines." Actually video game tester hadn't been one of her first thoughts. She wasn't sure when that came from. She sighed when he returned the question, "I'm an administration assistant at the tech. Yes, it's as unexciting as it sounds."
word count 537
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Post by andy mclaughlin on Mar 30, 2011 16:51:35 GMT
Andy nodded along enthusiastically when Ana agreed that English was a bit of a crappy language. He smirked slightly since she seemed to be some sort of language expert. He loved that she could see his side of things. Usually people believed that English was the superior language, what with it being the language of business and all of that sort of thing. He hated that people didn’t really care about his point of view. He looked over at Kaspar and smiled, “He’s gonna have some amazin’ skills by the end of this.” He didn’t know what he meant by ‘the end of this’ but he just left it hanging there. “You’re amazin’ at languages, if it weren’t for your accent I’d think you were local.” He confessed to her, she seemed to have good knowledge of the colloquialisms that were around in Wardenstown. He laughed out loud when she asked if he could speak other languages, “I can ask like one question in French but that’s it.” He scoffed, and then shrugged his shoulders. He’d never paid attention in GCSE French, he sometimes wished he had.
Andy loved the fact that Ana was game for a drinking competition at some point and it made him happy. He nodded and took a deep draw of his cigarette. He couldn’t think of a date or time right at that moment because his plans were never set more than a day or two in advance. “I’ll text you about it sometime.” He said with a smile. He laughed loudly when she asked him incredulously about his experience rolling down the hill. “My best mate said something like ‘how funny would it be to roll down that hill naked?’ and I took it as a challenge.” He told her with a shrug and then laughed
She didn’t seem to phased by his hug and kiss so that was good. Andy took four long draws of his cigarette and breathed them out his nose slowly, “Amazing.” He muttered under his breath, then he laughed slightly, “Thank you so much!” He told her again, he was grinning widely at her and he was so, so excited to have more nicotine. It would be true if it was said that he was chain smoker. He laughed when she said that she hadn’t expected him to be a youth worker, “Yeah, everyone always says that.” He laughed out loud and then shrugged his shoulders. What could he say? There was more to him than met the eye. “That does sound exciting!” He agreed sarcastically and then grinned at her. “I’ll drop by the office next time I’m there.” He promised her with a small smile. He took another draw of his cigarette and then exhaled heavily and watched Kaspar through the smoke.
wordcount;; four hundred and sixty five
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