A fictional story
by;
Jessica Anne Singleton
When I was a little girl I threw pennies into water fountain gardens. I closed my eyes and I made a wish that no one else could know about.
Now I'm an adult and I contain my own water fountain.
I make my own fate and I do not wait on things that never existed to begin with.
Part 1
The past of me.
My first memory of my grandmother was when I was three years old. She was getting ready for church. She had pin rollers in her hair. She had a tea cup on her dresser and she had this pretty bottle of perfume that smelled like flowers. I was playing at her feet. My grandmother wore a pearl necklace that belonged to her mother. It meant something to her. No matter what I did, she was always there for me. My parents worked to much to raise me. So I spent most of my time with my grandparents. My grandfather loved football and pipes. My grandmother always knew just what to say to make me feel welcomed in their home. They made me feel like I had a home too. One Sunday when it was my birthday, my grandmother let me wear her pearls. She said that I looked like her younger sister who had died in their childhood of the scarlet fever. After church, my grandmother took me out to eat. We had restaurant cake. It was chocolate and it felt like heaven. I had no friends yet. I was to young to play outside much on my own. Then my grandparents took me back to their house. When we got there my grandfather came out with three boxes. One had a Barbie. One had a Madame Alexander Doll and one had a pretty new dress. The new dress was cream colored and pink. It looked like a dream. I was so happy. When I was 20 years old, I was in my last year of college when they finally passed away. My grandparents never saw me graduate college. My parents did not have time to come to my big day. I went out to eat alone and I had restaurant cake by myself. I majored in Design. I got lucky with getting a job. I worked at a big company. And that is where my story starts.
Part 2
I went to Star Bucks after work. It was a cold November afternoon. I do not know why but all day at work, I just could not get warm. So all I wanted was something to warm me up inside. That coffee shop is like something out of The Wonka Factory. It just taste like heaven. I wanted to look at the mail that was in my purse. So I sat at one of their tables and I looked through a few envelopes that came. Mostly bills and bank statements. The rest was junk. This odd man came in and he was talking on his cell phone. He was not cussing anyone out but he was loud enough for everyone to hear him talking. It was annoying. I do not know why but I just did not want to hear him. So I got up and I left with my drink. I do not have a problem with noise. I just found myself annoyed to no end by his scratchy voice and his pointless conversation. It is odd because when you're at home and people are at your house, you leave the room to talk on your phone. Even when you know the people at your house, you do not want them hearing it. But people go in public around complete strangers and they talk as loud as they can. But it did not make me laugh. I had one of those long days and I got away from all those loud people at work. Only to go into public and get to hear the most pointless conversation amplified up to concert levels. I was not mad. It is not like I was going to take out an add in the local paper.
I took the transit home.
My apartment is rent to own. It is one bedroom. The view is not great. But it is home. I do not live in a bad area. I just do not live on Park Ave. I decorated my own home with art and color. I like winter a lot. It reminds me of the good parts of my childhood. My boss had a new job for us. It only came to our office because my boss's wife is the editor of Movement Magazine. Movement magazine is a fashion magazine that empowers women. It constantly shows off what clothes can do in photography. In the sense- A PICTURE says 1000 words. Examples;
A vintage picture of women standing in line to vote. Then a line of women in other countries hoping to get a bowl of food. Because they live in a country that is undeveloped. In the women's right to vote, they are turned out if they are not in Sunday's best. But in the third world, they cannot afford shoes. It takes all they have to buy a piece of bread to eat. It moves people.
Movement decided that they wanted to finally do a charity event. So they want to pay for 10 inner city girls to go to college. Our office is in charge of everything from decorating the room that will be used for the party. We have to start now. The party is in January. They start and pick girls their 11 th grade year in high school. That way there is time. The night of the event, the girls get a make over and a custom dress made just for them. I then get a memo from my boss saying that I'm in control of the whole decorating event. How does that work? I call a Hotel that is big enough to have a dinning room slash ball room that can seat 100 people comfortably and then I set up the menu for the night. Hotels have kitchens to cook in but with an event like this..... You have to hire out for the cake and drinks. The dresses that the girls are going to wear are the worst part. You have to get the girls to meet you somewhere in New York. Take them to a dress shop that takes sizes in the store by a TAILOR. Then you cannot just buy them a dress. The reason, the magazine snubs it. Why? They do not advertise for unknown designers. So you either find a person in the phone book who can sew or you get to pay millions for a name brand designer to make the dresses. The budget for the night is tight. There is not millions for that. So today I FIND out that I get to make their dresses. You cannot make the dress until their senior year in high school. Because if the girls grow then you wasted your time. You will start over with the whole dress. The publishing house that owns the Magazine is using this event to show off their 50th anniversary and all they have done for NEW YORK CITY. So next year when the event actually happens, it will not only be for the girls but for them. The colors of the outside of the magazine are dark red. So the Editor wants all of the girl's dresses to be done in dark reds. Besides doing all this, I get my usual work load to deal with. That sounds about like it is.
One big headache.
My mother is a photographer who lives in England. I do not keep up with her. My father lives in Washington. He is a doctor. He is always doing charity work over seas. So I do not see him either.
I spent my Thanksgiving with friends. We watched silent films and went out for pizza. I got a new book at this store that only sells vintage books. Emily Dickinson is my idol. I love her work. I am not her and I'm not obsessed with her.
I found a Hilton hotel that is huge. They let me buy the room for the night in advance. I called a cake company that can make a gold cake. I even found a fabric store that sells great material for dresses. All the dresses are a different shade of dark red. I never realized how many colors of red there was.
Time flew by and then it was January and it was the news years eve ball drop. I was at home sewing and watching that rocking eve thing on TV. I had take out Chinese. That golden ball reflected off all the glass windows and it looked like a wish. It reminded me of throwing pennies into water fountains in childhood and then making wishes.
The next year, when it was January I had everything done. But then the night before the event, I realized that I forgot to buy me a dress. Everyone has that one thing. I owned one pair of shoes that would work for the night. I had a pair of pastel blue Prada Shoes. But no dress. There was no time to buy one. I also did not have anything in my closet that would work for the night.
Then I found my mother's old wedding dress. It had enough material to cut up and make anything out of.
The material was old vintage silk. I had my grandmother's pearls but the string that held them had long since broke.
I had this broken chandelier that hung in my living room.
So what can you do?
My apartment turned into the easy bake oven version of put it together and hope it works.
I CUT the dress to look like a one shoulder Greek God's dress. It was backless. I took some of the Crystals from the Chandelier and a few of the pearls, then I made a few different strands of pieces. They swung down the back of the dress. Like a backwards necklace that acted as the buttons of the dress. That made it easy to get out of without breaking the chains. The pearls and crystals hid my bra. I had to wear strapless due to the shoulders.
The front swung in and the material stopped when it hit the top of my right shoulder. I put the remaining pearls on that part to hide the stings. It looked like a vintage broach. I wore my baby blue shoes and I put my hair up.
I met a lot of people at the party. They liked my designs and they bought them off me. I made enough money off my dress alone, that I could buy my own home and buy whatever I wanted to furnish it.
My life got better and everything worked out.
The END
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