My Blue Face

Story made up from favorite movie lines


My Blue Face- 1,811 words

"Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn," he said and was gone with the wind.
I stood there by the door, his last words echoing in my mind. "…don’t give a damn…" Who did he think he was?

Oh, I should have seen the writing on the wall. He gave me plenty of warning… He said one morning, "I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." He was bad news alright. I should have listened to my mother. Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates, never know what you're gonna get. She was right. She was always right.

I remember the day I first met him. I was under the weather with a touch of flu, so I went to the drugstore to get something to relieve my running nose. The pharmacist was a nice man, and since I was the only customer in the store, he talked to me, unlike other times I'd been there. He gave me my pills, and smiling knowingly he said: "You take the blue pill -- the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill -- you stay in Wonderland and I'll show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

What the hell was he talking about? Then I noticed that the two bottles he gave me were labeled with blue and red stickers, respectively. OK, I said to myself. I don't know what he meant, but I can't think right at the moment, so I'd better go home and read the instructions there. I thanked him and took my leave, blowing my nose into a pink paper tissue.

On my way to the subway station, I was thinking about my boss and the fact that he hated it when I missed work and I nearly stumbled on an old blind man who sat at the top of the stairs leading down to the sub. I stepped back and feeling charitable, I groped inside my raincoat pocket and came up with a few coins. Before I could toss them into the small metal bowl placed on the ground in front of him, he said in a surprisingly strong voice, "Show me the money!"

"What?" I said, "Show you what money?" The man reached his hand out for my coins. I didn't think twice and put them into the palm of his hand. He closed his fingers on the coins and stashed them away inside his tattered overcoat.

I was about to walk away when I heard him say, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road, girl. It is your destiny!" I turned to look at him and saw the half smile on his lips vanish into his overgrown beard. He's a crazy old man, I thought. Says crazy things… Who ever heard about a brick road? I made my way down the stairs and took the A train.

When I arrived home my Mother came out of the kitchen and said, "Oh, there you are. Feeling any better? What did the pharmacist give you?"

I showed her the two bottles and she immediately rushed back to the kitchen and came out carrying a glass of water. I sat down, opened the red labeled bottle and swallowed one red pill. Then I remembered that the pharmacist said something about the pills which had to do with Wonderland and a rabbit hole, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was. Well, I'll take the blue pill after lunch, I thought and was startled by a loud noise coming from the window.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" My mother shouted from the back porch where she was sorting out green beans for supper. "He's fixing the window."

I went to the window and drew the curtains open. A young man stood outside on a ladder, his face reddened while trying to push up the stuck window. He saw me and signaled to help him push the window from the inside. I pushed it up and after he filed the frame in a few places he made sure the window was working properly. He then climbed down the ladder and appeared in the living room.

"You'll find my mother in the kitchen," I said and looked him over. He was exceptionally handsome, his dark eyes complemented by shoulder long blonde curls. He too was looking at me and a smile lit his face.

"I'll be baaack," he said, dragging the word, "Wait." He pushed the kitchen door and disappeared behind it.

I arranged the cushions on the sofa, turned on the TV and sank down feeling dizzy. I thought that a short nap would do me wonders when I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me," I heard the man say.

What? What did he say? I jumped from the sofa and rushed over to the kitchen.

Mother was standing by the table, looking at the young man with pleading eyes, holding a cream pie in her hands. It was her prize winning pie which she baked for special occasions and never gave out the recipe. Whew… what was I thinking?

The man said politely, "Sorry Mrs. Robinson. I just had breakfast. Perhaps some other time?"

My mother sighed and turning to put the pie back into the fridge, I heard her murmur, "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. In Kansas, young men never refused a slice of my cream pie…" Poor Mom. Her feelings were hurt.

I walked the man to the front door. He was still gazing at me with that strange expression on his face, and I thought perhaps a pimple had grown on my nose, so I reached to it, but found nothing.

"My name is Roman. What's yours?"

I told him my name was Helen and suggested he'd be on his way before he'd catch my flu virus.

He said at once, "Then I'll meet you when you're feeling better. We'll have a wonderful time together… I can feel it!

He opened the door and smiling widely he said, "Hasta la vista, baby," then disappeared. That was my first meeting with the no-good, worthless Roman.

My eyes felt heavy and I thought the red pill was finally working. I went back to the sofa and fell asleep immediately.

Loud voices woke me and I heard my mother talking to Granny. "Please, Mama, don't say such things! You know you are making it all up. Please! Let me get you your tea with a few Oreo's."

"You never listen, do you?" My granny's voice sounded sharp. "I keep telling you. I see dead people. All the time… The young man fixing the window… The postman yesterday…"

She was at it again. Poor thing. She had lost her marbles a long time ago, but this 'seeing dead people' topped it all. I wished my mother would commit her to an asylum. She would be taken care of properly and would be able to tell her 'sightings' to everyone.

I got up from the sofa and went to the bathroom. Looking at the mirror, I got a fright. Something wasn’t right. My face turned blue and compared to me, Count Dracula looked blushed… What is going on? I thought. I don't feel sick at all. Was it the red tablet?

I washed my face, combed my hair and went to see if supper was served. I was suddenly famished, having missed lunch when I was asleep.

My parents and Granny were in the dining room talking. My brother was going through the CD rack in the living room, trying to find a particular disc to replace the one that was playing.

"Play it again, Sam, I kind of liked the rhythm…" My father surprised me. He never liked Sam's kind of music.

When I walked into the room, my mother stared at me and said, "My God! What have you done to your face? You look like a ghost!"

"I told you there are dead people walking around here---" Granny was quick to remark.

"Shut up, Mama. She's sick." and to me she said, "Did you take another of those pills you showed me?"

In the mirror above the fireplace I saw my face. I looked something between that guy in "Brave heart" and the Tin Man from the Land of Oz. Shocking.

"Why oh why didn't I take the BLUE pill?" I said. "Perhaps it would have turned my face to a crimson red… who knows?"

Sam came in from the living room and said," What blue pill? And talking about blue - have you been to a masquerade party? You look awfully blue…"

"Shut up, Sam. Let's eat. I've cooked a new dish today. It will surprise you all!"

Mother was always looking for new dishes to surprise us with, at supper. There were times when we were so surprised we couldn't swallow the strange tasting dishes. Lucky for her, my father had a broad mind and a tolerant nature. He said, "Go ahead, make my day." We all laughed and mother went into the kitchen to fetch the food.

Suddenly, the door bell rang.

Sam went to answer it and came back with no other than the handsome Roman. He was dressed in black leather pants and jacket and his white T Shirt had a black skull plastered all over it. Really scary. But he was so sexy, I couldn't help adoring him. I forgot my blue face which he didn't seem to mind.

"Greetings," he said. "May the Force be with you!"

Granny giggled and said, "Another good for nothing…

"Shut up Mama," said my mother.

"What are you doing here, Roman?" My mother didn't like unexpected visitors.

"I came for your daughter. We're going out to the movies. You don't mind, do you?"

I was stunned, not knowing what to say. I couldn't go out looking like a gallon of blue paint had been poured over my head. But I wanted to go out with him. So I said, "Perhaps you'll stay for supper then we could go up to my room and listen to music? I haven't been feeling well all day…"

Roman smiled and said to my father, "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

He pulled out a chair, sat down and we had mother's 'surprise', which was very tasty for a change.

That is the story of how I'd met my husband. But he wouldn't be my husband for long… He kind of got tired of seeing my blue face every morning and he asked me for a divorce. I told him I still loved him, and his words still echo in my mind: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."


Hanna