Beloved

It is late afternoon at the park. The leaves of the tall oak trees rustle in the wind, giving the air a chilling, soft breeze. The tall, unkempt grass shifts on the side of the small, motionless pond. And next to it, sitting on a wooden bench, is where a human creature named Vini (or Vini Mungayra) is. Crying.

Her shoulders are hunched in an uncontrollable sob. She felt nothing but a mere complete hopelessness. After all, this was the sorrowful day where she had somehow attained an F- in every subject at school.

The last thing she remembered was her teacher coming up to her during seventh period with a highly disappointed expression as she had each and every one of her failures explained in a quietly calm voice. That was a couple of hours ago and Vini still couldn't believe her ears. She watches the simmering gray pond. It is as sad and lost as she feels herself and she has trouble remembering what it was like to be joyful, to be excited, to have fun... and to have straight As.

Oh my good grades, Vini thinks as she whimpers, they are lost forever! Suddenly, she jumps as she hears a soft, uneven thump stomp crack somewhere by her side. And before she knew it, there was a tall, billowing shadow on the ground next to her hunched own.

Vini looks up, weary. She was just thinking the last thing she wanted to do was more awkward socializing, when suddenly she caught sight of the young man who looked about 10 years old than her. And in a brief moment, she suddenly was in an unending spiral of awe and admiration.

In her eyes, he seemed like the handsomest, most beautiful human she had ever seen. He had long, tangled, greasy black hair that fell down over his back. His sharp, oily face that amazingly reminded her of pure, 32 fl oz of vegetable oil. On that face were outrageously thick glasses that made his crooked dark brown eyes seem like specks of dirt plucked out from the shore of a beach. And there was no looking away from his very, very bushy eyebrows and false handlebar mustache. But most importantly, the one feature that Vini couldn't take her eyes off was his glamorous, bulbous stomach that stuck out a foot away from his body, forming a deliberate, 45 degree angle.

"mAy I sIt HeRe..." the dazzling man starts to ask and Vini hurriedly wipes her tears and bustles to stand up, offering the bench to him.

"wItH yOu." he finishes, with a fake and toothy smile as he sits down, taking up more than half of the bench.

Vini immediately blushes, feeling her face go hot with excitement and embarassment. She sits back down next to him, turns her head around and meets the young man's pinpoint eyes. He stares back at her, his face still set in that cocky smile and she feels a million butterflies flutter in her stomach.

"I-I'm Vini... Vini Mungayra," she breathlessly chokes out, deeply self-conscious of the dried tears still smothered on her face. There is a moment's silence where the young man, still wearing his ridiculous grin, starts tonguing his front teeth up and down. And Vini watches, mesmerized by his beauty.

"iT's a PlEaSuRe tO mEet yOu Viney," the middle-aged man croaks as he resumes rubbing his massive four foot, triple chin. He bites his lip one more time before holding his hand out and saying, "i'M sHaHaHaa-" A pause. "sHa...HaHaHaHaChOo!". And the man gave a startling loud and wet sneeze muffled by the palm of his hand.

"sHaHaNa," the man finishes, "sHaHaNa VEEReNdiRaN", now offering his damp hand, his fingers smeared with hints of dark green boogers. Vini takes it enthusiastically and shakes it, still in wonder of meeting such a fine, sophisticated gentleman at the park.

"aNd mY hEaRt... iT VEERS iN yOuR dIreCtIoN"

Delightedly shocked, Vini's sorrow and misery starts to fade away upon this miraculous moment. She feels a comfortable ring in her ears as she stares endlessly in man's miniscule eyes, a ring of satisfaction and content.