Stereotypes

No, we don’t eat frogs,

But we have the best cuisine in the world.

No, all the French are not romantic,

But Paris is the most romantic destination in the world.

No, we are not frivolous,

But we like love.

No, we are not snob, neither narcissist,

But we have a lot of things to say about our country.

No, we do take bath,

But we like perfumes.

No, we don’t wear beret,

But France is still the country for fashion and good taste.

No, we are not always in strike,

But there is always someone striking.

No, it is not because we don’t smile that we are not friendly,

But we need time to know and appreciate people.

No, we do speak English,

But ask us in French.

Written on March 2011, the 21st.

Picture Credits : Paris at Night, the Seine river and the Eiffel Tower.

Untitled (Angry)

What did I do?

What’s wrong with you?

I never know who I am going to see each day!

How can it work today?

You are not in the right place!

You are always in my space!

What changed in you?

Why did I love you?

I never knew.

I never went to you.

You can’t love me!

You are not the guy with who I want to be.

How can you say that?

I told you what was in my heart.

I am the man you need,

Everybody agreed.

My love is not for you

No matter what you will do

I will never be yours

So, please, do not start wars.

You are pretty.

I don’t want your pity.

You are the one I want

For you, I will be elegant.

I don’t care about what you promise,

I don’t want to live like an actress.

I will never trust you,

And I don’t want to argue.

If you don’t want me, if you don’t love me,

I can’t stay with you, baby

I have to bid you adieu

Forever, I will love you.

Written on March 2011, the 21st

Doing whatever it takes to get what she wants

In this big city, grey was everywhere. Streets were grey. Buildings were grey. Cars were grey. People were dressed in grey. However, in this grey world, there was a touch of red. A little girl fell in love with red. Dressed in red in this grey city, she looked like Little Red Riding Hood in the dark forest.

She could see her balloon on the top of the building. She was playing with her balloon when it blew away. She was too little to catch it but also too pretentious to ask for help. She went to the main door of the building and started type some codes on the digital access lock. She began it calmly but, after some tries, she became angry. At this moment, she looked like a quick-tempered little girl. So, she tried to get into the building in another way. She knocked at the door louder and louder. She was knocking at the door so strongly that passers-by were thinking that she would break the door despite her little size and being seven years old.

Finally, someone got out of the building, and she ran inside. She ran in the stairs, she had to reach the roof where her balloon was stuck. She had to hide when she was going upstairs. A Little Red Riding Hood in a business building is not the right place she should be. Fortunately, she was little and people were so bored at work that they looked like sleepwalkers. Some workers even saw her. When they called her, she ran faster and vanished in a corridor or in the stairs. She finally reached the roof of the building. She pushed the door and she could see it, her balloon, just in front of her. It was really close to the side of the building.

The little girl went close to her red balloon. She stretched her arm out, trying to reach her balloon. At this moment, she hated herself for being just seven. She would like to be older to have longer arms, legs and body to reach whatever she wanted. And, now, she wanted her balloon. After trying, she looked around. On the roof, there were a lot of things, useless things. She found a stick and went back to her balloon, which was still stuck. She wound the balloon string around the stick. The Little Red Riding Hood of the city finally had her balloon. She held it in her arms, happy to have found her toy of the day.

The whole day, there was a Little Red Riding Hood in the grey city. She didn’t bring a plain round flat cake and a little container of butter to her grandmother, but she ran in the city with her red balloon running behind her, at the end of the string.

Written on March 2011, the 7th.

Picture Credits : Jnk Photography - A Girl and her red balloon

A character exploded / Un personnage explose

I had been invited in my friend’s apartment. I liked her apartment. She was living in a apartment complex. There was a swimming pool in the middle of the buildings. Everyone who lived in this apartment complex can use the swimming pool. She was living in the third floor. When I entered in her apartment, there was a big living room, in front of the door. The kitchen was in the corner, next to the front door. This kitchen looked so small in comparison with the living room. Some people had already been there. They were sat on the couch, chairs, and pouffes arranged in a U shape, in front of the hall-door. I looked at these people, I had fallen out with a lot of them. They were speaking quite loudly and laughing. I greeted my friend, she was putting pizzas in the oven and others were already out. I could smell the tomato sauce and the cheese from the pizzas. I helped her to cut them and brought it on the table. When I put it on the table, smells from the crackers came to me with smells of alcohol. Vodka, white wine, Martini, Manzana, Coke, I could smell everything thanks to my current job as a barman. I didn’t know if people around the coffee table had noticed me; it didn’t matter, I wasn’t in good relationships with them.

I took a drink and sat on an empty chair. This night was the night, the night when I would see her again. She left the area one year ago and, even if I had have her at the phone when she was away, I missed her. Finally, she arrived at the party in a beautiful light blue dress. This shape of dress was really nice on her. It was tight on her chest and flared on the bottom. I was used to calling this type of dress Alice’s dresses because of Alice in Wonderland. These dresses were the ones that they fit her the best. She kept her long blond hair and her angel face.

I missed her so much. She said hello to some people before jumping in my arms. I hugged her for a while. I could smell her perfume that I missed. I would like our embrace would never end. I squeezed her, I would like to show her how much I missed her. She finally whispered in my ear that she had to say hello to everyone. She left me and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was still as pretty as I had left her, maybe more beautiful. Her smile was on her face while she was greeting everybody, one by one. Her smile was communicable; I was smiling just seeing her smiling. Then, I saw him and my smile vanished.

He stood up with a smile and placed in front of her. Her lovely smile disappeared. I looked at the scene with a bad look. I knew what happened between them. He was deeply in love of her but she wasn’t. She became sick because of him. She lost everything which was important to her. He had destroyed her and he didn’t even have noticed it.

She looked at him with a bad look. She froze in front of him. She threatened him in a murmur.

- If you touch me…

He looked surprised and he clearly didn’t expect this reaction. It seemed like he couldn’t remember what he did to her. Then, everything happened so fast. He tried to catch her hand. She didn’t let him and pushed him. He didn’t expect that and he fell on the floor. At this moment, everything stopped. Everybody stopped talking. The only sounds that we could hear were the sound from the oven and voices and music from other apartments of the complex. I ran to her.

- Are you ok? She answered me whispering.

- I think I should go. We held our hands and ran away for the party. When we were out, she sent a text to our host to apologize. I never saw her like that. She had always been calm, a non-violent person. I had the feeling to rediscover her but I liked the new her. I’m still thinking that he deserved it. Compared with what he did to her, threaten and push him was nothing.

Written on March 2011, the 4th.

Picture Credits : I Want to Hold your Hand by Robert-Photo

J'avais été invité chez mon amie. J'aimais son appartement. Elle vivait dans une résidence. Il y avait une piscine au milieu des immeubles. Tous ceux qui vivaient dans la résidence pouvaient utiliser la piscine. Mon amie vivait au troisième étage. Lorsque j'entrai dans son appartement, il y avait un grand salon, en face de la porte d'entrée. La cuisine était dans le coin, à côté de la porte d'entrée. Cette cuisine semblait si petite en comparaison avec le salon. Quelques personnes étaient déjà là. Ils étaient assis sur les canapés, chaises et poufs mis en U, en face de l'entrée. J'ai regardé ces personnes, je m'étais fâché avec beaucoup d'entre-eux. Ils parlaient assez fort et riaient. Je saluai mon amie, elle mettait les pizzas au four et d'autres étaient déjà en dehors. Je pouvais sentir l'odeur de la sauce tomate et du fromage des pizzas. Je l'aidai à les couper et les apportai sur la table. Lorsque je les posai sur la table, l'odeur des biscuits apéritifs m'arriva avec les odeurs de l'alcool. Vodka, vin blanc, Martini, Manzanna, Coca-Cola, je pouvais sentir tout grâce à mon travail actuel comme barman. Je ne savais pas si les personnes autour de la table basse m'avaient remarqué; ça n'avait pas d'importance, je n'étais pas en bons termes avec eux.

Je pris un verre et m'assis sur une chaise libre. Ce soir était le soir, le soir où j'allais la revoir. Elle avait quitté la région un an auparavant et, même si je l'avais eu au téléphone lorsqu'elle était ailleurs, elle me manquait. Enfin, elle arriva à la fête dans une jolie robe bleu clair. La coupe de cette robe était très belle sur elle. La robe était serrée sur son buste et évasée sur le bas. J'étais habitué à appeler ce type de robe des robes d'Alice à cause de Alice au pays des merveilles. Ces robes étaient celles qui lui allaient le mieux. Elle avait gardé ses longs cheveux blonds et son visage d'ange.

Elle m'avait tellement manqué. Elle dit bonjour à quelques personnes avant de me sauter dans les bras. Je la pris dans mes bras un moment. Je pouvais sentir son parfum qui m'avait manqué. Je voulais que cette accolade ne termine jamais. Je la serrais, je voulais lui montrer combien elle m'avait manqué. Finalement, elle chuchota à mon oreille qu'elle avait à dire bonjour à tout le monde. Elle me quitta et je ne pouvais détacher mes yeux d'elle. Elle était toujours aussi jolie que lorsque je l'eus quitté, peut-être encore plus belle. Un sourire était sur son visage pendant qu'elle saluait tout le monde, un par un. Son sourire était communicatif; je souriais juste à la regarder sourire. Puis, je le vis et mon sourire s'évanouit.

Il se leva avec un sourire et se plaça face à elle. Le sourire de mon amie disparu. Je regardais la scène d'un mauvais oeil. Je savais ce qu'il s'était passé entre eux. Il était profondément amoureux d'elle mais elle ne l'étais pas. Elle devint malade à cause de lui. Elle perdu tout ce qui était important à ses yeux. Il l'avait détruite et il ne s'en était même pas aperçu.

Elle le regarda avec un mauvais regard. Elle se tétanisa devant lui. Elle le menaça dans un murmure.

- Si tu me touches…

Il sembla surpris et il apparut clairement qu'il n'attendait pas cette réaction. Il semblait qu'il ne pouvait pas se rappeler de ce qu'il lui avait fait. Puis, tout est arrivé si vite. Il a essayé de prendre sa main. Elle ne l'a pas laissé faire et l'a poussé. Il ne s'attendait pas à ça et il tomba au sol. A ce moment, tout s'arrêta. Tout le monde s'arrêta de parler. Les seuls sons que l'on pouvait entendre étaient le son du four et les voix et la musique des autres appartements de la résidence. J'accourus à ses côtés.

- Ça va? Elle me répondu, murmurant.

- Je pense que je devrait y aller. Nous nous prîmes la main et nous échappâmes de la fête. Lorsque nous fûmes dehors, elle envoya un texto à notre hôte pour s'excuser. Je ne l'avais jamais vu ainsi. Elle avait toujours été calme, une personne non-violente. J'avais le sentiment de la redécouvrir mais j'aimais la nouvelle elle. Je pense toujours qu'il l'a mérité. Comparé à ce qu'il lui avait fait, le menacer et le pousser, ce n'était rien.

Ecrit le 4 mars 2011. Traduit le 20 mai 2011.

Crédits Image: I Want to Hold your Hand par Robert-Photo

A fight

In front of the door, there is the window with two white curtains in chiffon on each side. To the right of the window, there is a big desk, with a bookshelf put on it. Candles, stuffed animals, a stereo system, books, notebooks are on and in this bookshelf. On the wall, there is a modern painting in pink and silver, built with squares. Next to the desk there is a night table with a silver lamp that you need to touch its foot to turn it on or off. Next to it, there is a one-person bed in wood. At the feet of the bed, there is a little bookshelf in wood and wrought iron. In front of this bookshelf, there is another bookshelf, in white wood. On the top of the white bookshelf, there are two brown boxes in fabrics with fabrics inside too. On the following shelf, there are teddy bears. A lot of different stuffed animals are there; a turtle, some bears, some rabbits, and a few dolls. On the next shelf, DVDs are organized. Looking closely, DVDs from the left side are musicals. Under this shelf, there are prizes and ballerina statuettes. The two last shelves are full of books and folders.

The room is white with two horizontal pink lines on the top of the wall. This bedroom is really bright because of the sunlight which comes in. It smells incense, mixing with candle. There is also a smell of perfume, a sweet perfume. This perfume seems to describe the girl whom this room belongs to. It is light, fresh and young, full of energy. There is also a strange smell, hardly to smell, of bleach which is from the swimming pool, just behind the window.

No’ and Lily are lying on the bed, in the same position. No’’s head is at the head of the bed whereas Lily’s head is at the foot of the bed. No’ is using Lily’s computer and Lily is sewing. The two girls are talking like two sisters do. Sometimes, No’ shows something to Lily on the computer and asks her what she thinks about it. Lily does the same thing with her sewing work. This scene looks like usual. The two sisters are used to spending time together. Music is playing from the computer, sometimes cut by the line “Change this song, I don’t like it.”.

Suddenly, the door opens. The two sisters jump from surprise. They look at the door, their little sister is there.

- Where is my Nintendo DS! She screams. Lily and No’ look at each other with a questioning look. They have been in Lily’s room for a couple hours now, they have no idea where it could be.

- Give it back! I know you have it! The little sister still screams. Lily becomes upset and get up.

- Mel’, we don’t have it! So, stop accusing us! And stop yelling! Lily shouts.

- I know you have it! You stole it! I will tell Mom! The little girl starts crying. Lily becomes mad.

- I don’t have it! Neither No’! Lily pushes her little sister out of her room. Get out!!! Lily slams the door in her little sister’s face and comes back on the bed with No’. They hear Mel’ runs in the corridor, crying and yelling for their mother.

Later, Lily and No’ see their little sister, playing quietly with her Nintendo DS in the living room. The two older sisters look at each other, they don’t say anything but don’t think less. Their little sister will never apologize for the previous fight, but the two girls still love their sister and forgave her; she is little.

Written on February 2011, the 23rd

Picture Credits : No', Me and Léa

Shattered Innnocence

The suburb was quiet on that Sunday afternoon. Some cars were on the street, driving slowly as the signs recommend it. Some children were playing in the far-away streets of the neighborhood. In the front yard where Jim was playing, birds were twittering. Birds twittering mixed with Jim’s babbling in a delicate music.

Spring was there, the smell of grass circled the little boy playing outside. Flowers perfume was here too. Jim’s mother was watching her son by the window and she was baking cookies. The smell of fresh cookies went to Jim who knew it would be snack time soon.

Jim was outside, playing with Belle, the dog of the family. Belle was a medium-size dog and had short hair but long enough to be caught. Her two eyes were circled by black and she looked like a thief. The ends of her ears were black too, as she had dunked the end of her ears in a paint container. Her body was white except her front right leg which was black.

Jim was 18 months old. He inspired innocence with his blue eyes, so blue that it looked like water that it was possible to pass through. His light blond hair seems virginal. He was wearing a light blue onesie. His outfit was a little green because he was playing in the yard for a while.

Belle was the quietest dog that existed. She was lying on the grass while Jim was climbing on her and catching her hair. She didn’t move at all, letting Jim playing with her and discovering the world like a mother would do. Jim was sitting on her back, jumping like a baby does. He slipped and grabbed Belle’s hair in his fall. Then, Jim snuggled up against Belle, his head against her head. He pulled Belle’s ears and the dog let him do. Jim was playing with Belle’s chops when she saw a cat coming in the front yard. Belle growled at the intruder. Jim looked at Belle and was afraid by her face. He had never seen her like that. Frightened, Jim started crying. His mother got out of the house and picked up Jim. She chased away the cat. Jim was looking at Belle, frightened by what he saw. His look on his favorite playmate had change forever.

Written on Febuary 2011, the 14th