The drawer slid open, she shuffled through it and then finally found what she was looking for. A small black cardboard box with red crisscrossed lines. She opened it and smiled satisfied. Finally she had found them.
She pulled out the black, steel hoops and went to the mirror.
When the earrings saw her reflection they were stunned. For how long had they been in that box? It couldn’t have been so long! Though judging by the amount of wrinkles on her face, it had been quite a bit.
What was she when they had last seen her? In her forties? Now … fortuitously she got closer to the mirror to admire herself so they could really take a good look.
Gosh! She was a changed woman! The skin loose and soft, the eyes puffy, the hair a strange indefinite color. What happened to her!?!
That is when they saw the house around them. That had changed too. It was no longer the bright, spacious apartment they had seen before, it was a burrow with low ceilings and dark corners.
Before they had gone in the box, the earrings could remember all the good times they had, the evenings out, the long days in the office. She was tired all the time, at least that is what she said, but despite it she was always going places, doing stuff. She felt pleased with it all.
Now, maybe twenty years later, she really looked tired, although her eyes, in the mirror, reflected the same energy they had known before.
She moved her head slightly to make them move, then touched them with the tip of her fingers.
‘I haven’t seen you in so long! I was sure I lost you!’
The earrings had been just resting in the box, so for them time had passed in an instant, but it was really great to be out in the light again, especially with her.
‘Where has time gone?!’, she could remember when she had bought them on one of her lunch breaks from George Street Market. She had liked their sturdiness and reliability. Thick, black steel hoops with a secure closing system, that she could wear all the time, without having to worry if they matched with anything as they clashed and matched with everything at the same time.
‘I am so happy I found you!’
The earrings danced happily in her ears. They were really happy to have been found too. Eternity in a box was insufferable when it passed in a split second.
She had put them there when she got promoted and when black, steel earrings were deemed too aggressive, she had been advised to wear something softer, more delicate, which she did, but now she was too old to care for any of that. Now, she had won the right to wear what she wanted, without fear of judgement or repercussions.
She smiled at the earrings in the mirror and that is when they recognized her.
There you are! So nice to see you again! Let’s make some more times to remember!
Neat work, I enjoyed this read.
I believe inanimate objects are deep down somewhat animate, and I have empathy for them, especially objects you wear because there is a certain intimate connection. I really enjoyed this piece, Alina!