Recollections of Soft Fur and Orange Skirt
The father gave out a gasp of surprise, but his eyes soon smiled with joy and reminiscence. He carefully picked up the small rectangular DVD-case from the cardboard container and gave it a loving hug as if it was a newborn child. He closed his eyes as his mind drifted back to the days of old, everything in vivid colors, the sounds still clear and wonderful.
The old man started to hum the main theme to himself, at first quietly and unsure but both the confidence and volume increased with every word he sang out.
“Dad?”
His daughter wandered into the practically bare room. She was almost an adult now, her eyes mature and wise. Her stance experienced and strict. The clothes she wore consisted of a white dress shirt and a black skirt. Not the rainbow pyjamas that she loved so much. Not the yellow blouse and orange skirt she would wear to be like one of the characters from the movie.
“Dad, you okay?” said the daughter with eyes of love and concern.
“Yes, dear,” said the father with the smile still shining and lighting up the dim room that had everything removed, except for the last cardboard box. But it was time for it to also move on.
“I found this and just...remembered.”
The parent showed his child the DVD and the eyes of the daughter sparkled, lit with memories of innocence and love.
“I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed. “I thought it was gone!”
“Same,” agreed the father. “But then I found it on top of the moving box.”
The daughter admired the small case and, just as her father before, gave it a delicate hug.
“I still wonder how the fur would feel like,” said the daughter half to herself, half to her dad. “It always looked so soft and fluffy. And when Mei slept on the belly, oh I was so jealous of her!”
“I thought you liked Satsuki more,” said her father.
“I liked Satsuki more, but I was jealous of Mei since she had so many encounters with Totoro,” she said. “I did dress up like Satsuki. Remember Comic-con, when I had the orange skirt and yellow blouse?”
“Hmm, I’m getting a bit old and senile, you will have to tell me more about that story,” said his father stroking his chin as if trying to remember, but more likely hiding the small smile that erupted when the daughter mentioned the memories.
“Oh, you don’t?” said the daughter with cunning eyes and a teasing smile. “I remember someone dressing up as this huge fur-being in grey and white, holding a small black umbrella. I also remember this someone fainting due to heat exhaustion since it was really warm inside the fur.”
“Naa, it wasn’t the fur,” said her father while shaking his head. “I think the problem was that this someone tried to keep up the tempo that his daughter had. She had so much she wanted to see and experience, hell you ran like three times around the whole convention in less than three hours!”
The daughter’s eyes drifted towards the cover and opened it carefully, showing the DVD still in shape. Their eyes met, both glimmered with reminiscence.
“Movie for tonight?” she asked.
“Movie for tonight.” he agreed.
➖➖➖
Oh, this one was some precious writing for me. It was nostalgic and sweet since I had just rewatched My Neighbor Totoro the night before I wrote this. Oh, just remembering the music from that movie gives me heartache!
No comments:
Post a Comment