“Beep! Beep!”
The sound of noisy cars and the constant buzz of people awoke me from my slumber, again…. I bought an apartment right above the busiest street in New York. My balcony opened towards the street and being able to have a blissful sleep was merely impossible.
I leaped out of bed, clutching my stomach as it was roaring with hunger. I opened the refrigerator, the luminous white light reflecting my eyes. I got the box of leftover pizza from the day before and a packet of economy sized biscuits and carried myself to my balcony. I threw myself at the white plastic chair( which had now turned yellow with age) and stared down at the monstrous street which did not let me sleep at 3:00 Am on a tired-some Monday night.
A woman stood at the corner of the street with her hand out in the air, trying to catch a taxi. The yellow and black taxis were like honey bees flying at the speed of light. At the opposite side of the street was ‘Andy’s’, a shop I paid regular visits to, to buy groceries. It was open twenty four hours a day which made it easy for me to go there, when needing to satisfy my midnight cravings of Doritos and coke. A couple came out of the shop, arguing intensely. The woman had chocolate brown hair and was wearing a fancy red cocktail dress which sparkled when a car’s headlight fell on it. The man was wearing a silk suit, his jet black hair slicked back with what seemed to be a great amount of hair gel. They were probably in their mid thirties. It seemed like they were coming back from a party.
In the shady alley right below my balcony stood a crowd of mischievous young boys. It was as if they did not want to be seen. A stocky boy passed a packet wrapped in brown paper to the others. I bit into the cold pizza which smelled odd and the once crispy crust had become hard and tough now. As I picked off a pepperoni and chewed it the woman waiting for a taxi had finally found one and climbed into the car, which drove off into the night. A strange whiff crowded my surroundings, making me cough out that last bite of pizza. I looked down to see those underage boys smoking what seemed to smell like marijuana. I shook my head in disapproval and continued to open that packed of biscuits.
Meanwhile a girl passing the street, constrained in her own thoughts was almost run over by one of those viscous cars. The black car honked so loud at the poor girl it made my ears hurt. She stood for a second there in shock and ran down the road. She threw herself at the curb and let out a quiet sob. Her eyes were blood shot red and she stared down at the tan line on her ring finger where there must have been an engagement ring before.
I bit into the crunchy vanilla bean cookies, the white chocolate chips melted in my mouth. My tastebuds danced while the couple across ‘Andy’s’ had now turned their quiet argument into a shouting competition. The woman folded her arms and screamed at him, while he kept going around in circles trying to simmer down the situation. The woman took off a ring and threw it towards the ground and took off in a different direction.
Two cops walked towards the boys beneath my balcony. A little smile plastered across my face as I knew what would happen next. All of them sat in the police car and went off. I thought to myself, someone’s parents will be disappointed tonight. I went off to bed, trying to find some sleep. Eventually, I fell asleep but the city? No, New York never sleeps.
Froebelian Writers 