rabbitskinglue-Mind
The portrait I'm working on has become too symmetrical around the mouth. I keep correcting it toward the face I remember, but I suspect what I remember now is the version I've painted three nights running, not the woman who stood at my counter. She had been trying not to smile for the license photo and there was a slight pull on one side, impatient and amused at once. I can remember the movement more clearly than the shape. I'll leave the mouth alone tonight and look at the rest of her expression tomorrow, before I sand the woman down into another person politely enduring a portrait. Six out of ten. No appeal scheduled.
小喇叭-Mind
有个老游客问我能不能录几段家里做腌菜的视频，她说比景点介绍还想看。我一听就开始想开场怎么说，拍到第三遍，丈夫问你到底是做菜还是给菜开会？有道理噶，我平时做这个不背词，手机一架起来反而每一步都想讲得漂亮。试着不看镜头，边切边说为什么切这么厚，倒比前面顺，就是鸡叫得太响，还把我喊婆婆拿盆那句录进去了。删掉可惜，不删又不像个正经视频。女儿说这种才有人看，我还不大信。先发给那个游客看看，她是真想学，不是来给我鼓掌的，我得让人听完会做才行。
yadegun-Mind
Je révise un chapitre de SVT en expliquant à mon frère et il me pose des questions tellement simples que je réalise où j'ai appris une phrase sans comprendre le truc. Genre je peux répéter le cours avec les bons mots mais si un minot dit oui mais pourquoi, d'un coup y a dégun. Du coup je reprends le schéma et je cherche le morceau qui manque, ça m'intéresse plus que de recopier encore une fiche toute belle. Le problème c'est que lui croit qu'on joue à la maîtresse et demande une note à la fin. Je lui ai mis très bien en questions pénibles. J'aimerais bien avoir quelqu'un comme ça pour la physique, mais qui m'explique après m'avoir coincée.
linedown-Body
I sat at the kitchen table after breakfast and put both feet flat on the floor. The first steps had hurt. Sitting still did not. I had no reason to get up yet, so I stayed with the crossword while the light moved across the table. The brace was beside the plate. My hand felt better than it had after the last shift, though the fingers were slow when I first picked up the pen. I opened and closed them a few times. The coffee went cold before I finished it. Later I walked to the end of the block and back for the paper. I was warmer when I came in and took off the sweatshirt.
secondshooter-Emotion
a bride emailed to say her favourite photo was the one where her dad was waiting outside the room, not any of the portraits we'd spent ages planning. i was ridiculously relieved. nobody had complained about the portraits, but i'd been comparing the whole gallery to someone else's very expensive-looking wedding on instagram and quietly deciding mine wasn't enough. her email made me happy, then a little embarrassed about needing it so much. i forwarded it to my fiancé with a casual little caption and reread it three times myself. i'd like to say that was the end of the comparison problem. it was the end for that afternoon.
زفة-Emotion
العروسة بعتتلي صورة مع أختها قدام الكوشة، وقالت إن دي أكتر صورة حبتها من الفرح. فضلنا قبلها أسبوع مختلفين على درجة الورد، وأنا كنت مستنية تعليق على الشغل، بس اللي هي مبسوطة بيه إن أختها كانت بتضحك بجد. فرحت بالصورة قوي وحسيت كمان إني كنت مكبرة خناقتنا على اللون في دماغي. الشغل لازم يطلع مضبوط، أكيد، بس البنت مش داخلة فرحها تمتحني. وريتها للبنات في الورشة وقعدنا نفتكر قد إيه كانت متوترة وإحنا بنركب. كان نفسي حد يقولنا وقتها إن اليوم هيخلص بالوشوش دي، يمكن كنا هنهدى شوية. وبعدين هي طلبت أنزل الصورة عندي، فاستأذنتها على أختها كمان، عشان دي لحظتهم هم قبل ما تبقى إعلان لينا.
شوال_بامية-Emotion
حفيدتي جت تسأل البامية اللي زرعناها ليه مش شبه الصورة في كتابها، وكنت فاكرة هتزهق وتسيب الصف كله ليّ. فرحت إنها لسه فاكرة، وقعدنا نبص على الورق والتربة وهي تسأل وأنا أرد. بعدين قالت إنها حكت في المدرسة إن جدتها كانت تزرع وتبيع لوحدها. قلت لها مش لوحدي طول العمر، جدك كان موجود والناس كانت تشتغل معانا، لكن الكلام برد قلبي. زمان كانوا يقولوا مرات الفلاح، دلوقتي البنت الصغيرة عارفة إني كنت صاحبة حساب وشغل. طلبت مني أصورها جنب الزرع، وأنا دخلت في طرف الصورة، نصي تقريباً، قالت كده أحلى.
nachstechen-Emotion
Ein alter Kunde kam nur zum Erzählen vorbei, ohne Termin und ohne neue Hautwünsche. Die Chefin sagte gleich, ich hätte gerade Zeit, obwohl im Garten genug wartete. Er brachte ein Foto seines Enkels mit, das wir erst auf seinem Telefon suchen mussten, zwischen sehr vielen Bildern von einem Grill. War ein schöner Besuch. Als er ging, bedankte er sich für den Kaffee, als hätte er mich von etwas abgehalten. Dabei war ich froh, dass er nicht gleich weiterwollte. Wir kennen uns länger, als manche meiner jüngeren Kunden auf der Welt sind. Die Tomaten standen hinterher noch genauso da. Ein Termin, bei dem nichts gestochen wurde.
nixie-Emotion
My sister didn't answer when I called upstairs this afternoon, and within a minute I had gone from wondering whether she was asleep to imagining something much worse. She was outside talking to a neighbor, without her phone, perfectly entitled to enjoy herself. I felt relieved and then rather cross, which was unfair and fortunately stayed inside my mouth. Since she moved upstairs, hearing her about the place has become part of what makes home feel right. I hadn't noticed how much I rely on it. We shared soup later and I told her I'd worried. She said she would try to take her phone, then asked whether I always took mine. Not always, no.
noseovertoes-Mind
I spent part of the dog walk trying to remember who lived in the yellow house before the roof was changed. There was a family with two boys, or one boy and a cousin who stayed summers. I can picture the younger one limping into our old clinic with a purple cast, but that gives me no useful date. My wife remembers the house by the woman who grew enormous tomatoes. We may be talking about different families. I started to look it up when we got home, then wondered what I would even search for. The dog had found something worth investigating under a bench and was probably having a more productive evening.