The Dangerous Elysium

1

"They made a statue of us
And then put it on a mountain top
Now tourists come and stare at us
Blow bubbles with their gum
Take photographs of fun, have fun"

Song : Us by Regina Spektor

****

"Bad memories were hard enough, but it was torture to be haunted by the good."
I remember that I read this quote somewhere in the newspaper and it kind of got stuck in my head not because how true it was but because I am familiar with the feeling . Weirdly enough this song brought both good and bad memories . I little smile came onto my face as hummed to the familiar tune and mouthed the recognisable lyrics .

The bell of the diner chimed as Mr. Chubukov ,the diner owner came back after buying some daily stock for the diner from the market . He was a nice old man . Deeply in love with his wife of 30 years he came and kissed her on the cheek .

" Hey Pearl , Where's that friend of yours this beautiful morning " , I chucked a little thinking about possibilities where my wild friend could be . And then I replied , " Yesterday was a Friday .
She is late which means she is probably hungover or got laid ."

He scrunched his nose a little wincing at my choice of words . And then Mrs . Chubukov or Mrs. Chubby as we called her said , " I think it's both . You what it's definitely a both . I wonder when you will get laid . "

I rolled my eyes ignoring her comment as I continued wiping the tables . It was a cute diner . It had old wooden tables , red sofas and chairs . It was owned by Mrs. Chubby's father and after that she took over it . Once Mr.Chubby retired from his job he also started helping with the diner .

I worked in the diner every Monday ,Wednesday, Friday and the weekends .  I was trying to save some money and busy myself rather than sitting at home with my thoughts .

The  bell chimed again as Alisha came in wearing sunglasses and the diner uniform which was a mustard coloured dress with a white small apron and of course a name tag . She grabbed my hand as she took me to the store room greeting the two chefs on the way . What can I say they bake awesome cookies .

" Did you get it ? " ,she asked me . " I don't sell drugs " , I deliberately made a lame joke trying to dodge the real question . She glared at me . And then said , " I am talking about the scholarship ". "I haven't received any mail yet ", I replied and went back .

My timings at the diner on weekends are from 7:30 In the morning and 5:00 in the evening. I nervously packed my bag and wore my coat  thinking about the scholarship I applied to the The kings academy in London. I put on my headphones and switched on my mom's old Sony Walkman . It was the most precious thing to me .

The kings academy rarely give scholarships and when my school teacher told me about it , I only thought of one thing - getting the hell out of Moscow . The results were to be mailed to the students' address . And there could be only one scholar. They were covering all expenses including travel expenditure and hostel fees. They were also giving extra allowances.

I reached home within 15 minutes . My foster parents weren't home . They owned an old bar on the other side of the city .

They lost daughter in a car accident and then ,they started fostering kids. They didn't really pay attention to me , which I'm very glad for  . It's not like they can ever replace my parents . But I really sympathise them . It feels like they foster kids so , that they can get the same feeling of affinity that they felt with their daughter but they are not able to bond with other kids because part of them knows that their daughter is never coming back.

Well , at least they have one another .

I directly went to the mail box and grabbing all the mails  at once I entered the house with my key . I went to my room upstairs and then, laying down on the bed looked through them . Suddenly , I found what I was looking for - The mail from academy it said ' KING'S ACADEMY , LONDON ' . I quickly went downstairs to the kitchen , grabbing a pair of scissors , I ripped it open with my fumbling hands . It was a letter and an air ticket .

Holy fucking shit , I'm in .

Thank you for reading .
Please click the star button if you liked it . I will post more chapters in two days .
I hope you enjoyed .
Ps . The song is not exactly related I was just listening to it while writing so I just put it up here .