A Choice

A Choice

 “Good evening,” The waitress of the café greeted me as I pushed open the wooden door. Her smile was warm, as the drinks sold in the café were. The warmth was just right.

“Good evening,” I smiled as I replied. She brought me to an empty table. I nodded at her as she gestured me to sit. After taking down my orders, she left me to my book. Not long after that, my order came. I looked on while the same waitress put them on the table.

I glanced at what she had put for a while longer before I turned my head to her. She replied my glance with the warm smile.

“Thank you,” I said. And she left, returning me to my book.

It was really a wonderful evening. Country music could be heard from the speakers at the corners of the small café. It was my favourite genre of music. There were not many people in the café. It was such a shame I could not share this amazing feeling of simple happiness with others.

A while later, the manager of the café decided to join me. She took the empty seat on my side. She was my best friend since junior high school. We parted our ways after senior high when she decided to open this café and I furthered my studies at the university. We still remained best friends and kept in touch during those times.

Enjoying the company of the country music, my favourite book, my favourite cake, and with my best friend sitting just next to me, it was a perfect evening.

“How come you are alone?” She said, starting short conversation for the evening.

“Wonderful evening, isn’t it?” I said. She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I decided to ignore it as I put a slice of cake into my mouth.

“Stacy,” She said, her eyes still focused at me.

After taking a sip of the coffee, I turned to face her.

“We’ve broken up,” I said. Her eyes widened. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her opened mouth.

“Just now,” Giving her a smile before I continued. “Five minutes before I came here. He said he had wanted to meet me here, but I guess he did not want to waste any more of our time. Here, this is his message.”

“Stacy, you have the right to express it if you feel sad. Cry it out, you’ll feel much better. I’m here for you, if there’s anything you need, just name it,” She held my hand which I stretched out to let her read the message in the phone I was holding to.

I shook my head. “Why should I cry? I don’t really feel sad.”

“Stacy, don’t force yourself. You…”

“No, I am not forcing myself. What you said just now, it goes to prove that I should be happy. I have you, my family, and a lot of people around me. Why should I feel sad just because he left me?”

She did not say a word. Instead she kept her eyes on me, looking straight at me.

I looked at the coffee in my hand and put it back on the table. It was still full. My sip just now did not cause any difference.

“I really can’t drink coffee. You should exhort that new waitress of yours. She keeps taking the wrong orders since just now. You’ll lose a lot of customers. Not many are as patient as I am,” I smiled at her as I stood up. The waitress was busy hurrying from table to table, apologizing. “Put it on my tab. I’ll pay them at the end of the month.”

“Oh, and you really need to oil these hinges. This door is starting to creak,” I added as I opened the wooden door. She stood behind me, her eyes full of sympathy.

“Come on, Claire. I’m fine, really. Happiness is a choice. He didn’t give me happiness. I chose to be happy when he’s around me. Now, I can still choose to be happy when he’s not with me. I choose to see this day as a wonderful evening, because I choose to be happy. I’m fine. I’ll call you later.”

I turned my back to her and took my umbrella from my bag. The rain was still as heavy as it was when I came here just now.

===========================================

Another short story finished!

I wrote an Indonesian version of this to join @writingsession's writing session (LOL!!!)
And I decided to translate it to English, since it got best of the night, since the admin of @writingsession gave such sweet comments on the Indonesian version.
It was labeled 'Happy'.. The theme of the night was 'Happy'...
Why did I wrote a not-so-happy story for the 'Happy' theme?
Coz I wanted to do things out of the box?? LoL...
I have no idea why, but a story of this type came into my mind when I read the theme.


Don't forget!!!

Happiness is a Choice. No one gave you happiness. You choose to be happy!

By the way, critiques and comments are definitely welcomed and appreciated!

Thank you for reading....

Lidya C.Y.

a smile a day

A smile, just a simple smile~

This morning, when I went to buy breakfast..
It was not a special thing to do..
But I had a special encounter..

It was a stall like any other..
The food was not bad, i would give 3.5 out of 5 stars...
A little too spicy for me..
Well, I had no idea what else to eat, so I chose the stall..

When the stall helper handed me my food and I asked for a pair of chopsticks...
Then she replied," Chopsticks? OK!" (in indonesian, of course)
She said that with a smile..
A wide, warm smile..A smile so cheerful that it stunned me for a few seconds.
When she put the chopsticks in my hand, again she gave me that smile of hers..

Pardon me for saying this but, she's not someone that you would call 'pretty', let alone 'beautiful'..
But her smile...
With that smile on her, i would say that she's 'charming'..
You don't see that kind of smile quite often these days..

It's the kind of smile that cannot be put into words easily, which I am trying to..
I felt the warmth and sincerity in the smile of hers..
I instantly understood why there are so many quotes, emails, and advices asking us to smile each day..

I don't know if her smile made her happy..
But it surely did made my day~
I'll be going back there for sure..
Mainly for the food..

But especially..
for the smile~

A smile, it may be simple, but it does wonders..
so..
SMILE!!!
^-^v

which is the right thing to do?

It was a sunny day. A young man was boarding a ship back to his hometown. He was in his last year of the university. He decided to go back home to visit his family before concentrating on his thesis. He looked outside the window, at the blue sea and bright sky, picturing himself and his parents at his graduation ceremony. He was glad that he could make them proud. After all, he's their only child. He smiled as he thought to himself, "I wish that day would come sooner."

He must have fallen asleep for the next thing he knew was the ship was in a state of chaos. All are frantic. Then he realized that the ship was going to sink. The ship was hit by a huge wave. When he recovered from his shock, he decided that he must do something.

So here are the two possible things he did:

POSSIBILITY 1 :

The young man then pulled out the safety jacket from under the seat. While he was going to put it on, he saw a lady who had sit beside him having trouble with her safety jacket. So, he helped her put hers on. Then he saw another who needed help, and another, and another. After mumbled a word of thanks, those whom he helped rushed out. But the sinking ship didn't wait for him to save those people, and of course it didn't give him more time to save himself. Hours later, they found him, together with several others who didn't manage to survive the tragedy.

Many came to his funeral, including those whose lives he saved. They cried and kept on expressing how grateful they were, calling him a lifesaver. His family, especially his parents, sat quietly at a corner.

Years later, those who survived the incident, saved by the young man or not, continued their lives, living everyday to the fullest. His family did too. The only difference was that whenever they saw photographs of him, tears rolled down their cheeks. The devastating feeling of losing him was not easy to forget.

POSSIBILITY 2 :

The young man then pulled out the life jacket and put it on as fast as he could. As he did this, he noticed the lady who had sit beside her. Her face was pale. He helped her a bit and quickly resumed what he was halfway doing. "Don't rush," he repeated to himself. After that, he joined those who were trying to leave the ship. On his way out, he helped others, but he didn't help much, just a little. He was clear that his priority was to get out of the sinking ship. He helped carry a little girl out of the ship. She was crying. The mother needed to carry her baby.

Not long after that, the ship sank. The young man saw this, from some where quite far. He was still holding onto the little girl's hand, the mother sitting not far away. Then he noticed the lady he helped, on a boat which was also full of saved passengers. But of course, there are those who didn't survive. He regretted a little; he could have helped them. But deep down he knew that he was glad he survived.

He reunited with his family.

Years later, while he was sitting in his living room, enjoying a great holiday evening with his own family, the telephone rang. It was from his parents, asking how their grandchildren were doing. He answered all their questions patiently, his eyes staring at the photos on the rack : the graduation ceremony, his wedding, and of course the photograph of the whole family.

So here comes the question, which is the right thing to do?

possibility 1 or 2??

from possibility 1, he saved the lives of many but causing his parents to experience the heartbroken feeling that could not possibly be healed.

from possibility 2, he survived but didn't save the lives of those of sank with the ship, if he did stay behind and try to save some of them, perhaps some other families wouldn't have to endure the feeling of losing a loved one.