The Champagne Incident

A Story by Morninglorya

Inspired by When Marnie was There

He, she and it. They occupy three chairs. If it included me, four chairs would be taken though I don't exist, neither does he and it.

Four tea cups for the girl herself, the nutcracker, the lion and I, the fairy. While she pours, she tells us about her day, or, what she would've been doing if she was well again. Answering questions, eating from a lunchbox, coming home and playing with her cat. Though since she's bored, she tells us she tidied instead. First her cluttered bookshelves, then he bed, finally her dead sister's toys, but before she could, she decided to say one last goodbye.

- Before the incident -

It seemed the cat had just come out from Anais’s room. Its snow fur- the softest she’d ever touched -was disheveled and damp like someone had it under their arm for too long. As it padded across the hardwood floor, glassy as a marble moon, two turquoise eyes stared up at her. Do something, it conveyed. Sure, she could play doll with her sister for a little while. There was always plenty of time to kill in this house, especially if no one bothered to look for you.

Anais was desperately rash. She never ceased to think such a description even existed before seeing it herself one night at the party. One out of many their parents would host after their grand return. At the same time, place and mood as this one, when the moon was up high and watching. The champagne incident.

Though she was also stubborn and brutally boastful as she was the last time, she was far from being spoiled as far as the miles stretched on her parent’s travel. There was simply nothing to boast about, at least, nothing to hold true in her boast. Not even the frilly dress she wore as she descended from the marble steps, the mountains of present stacked at the base of the stairs, the cheer from the crowd, the musicians, exotic animals, gourmet food and especially not the champagne.

That night, she had invited her friends over and maybe she was too drunk or she wanted to impress her friends, everyone or both, both drunk and unstoppable, she jumped the cliff in place of her cat. A joke she had brought up herself, executed by herself, if it was possible anyone could survive the height.

As she reached her room one last time, she thought there was simply nothing to boast about if you had to jump a cliff to get your parent’s attention.

© 2020 Morninglorya

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Reviews

P. Alan Gunderson

There are some good allusions to some interesting subtext and the final line is quite good. I'm just generally a little confused by some of the details at several points. I can't really get a sense for the characters' ages. The opening scene seems like they were little kids, but the ending would seem to suggest they are at least in their teens. I appreciate some of the emotions of the characters but I think this story could be improved a bit by some added length for explanation and a little more clarity in the writing for the descriptions of the characters.