Another Life| Joel Pimentel

Four.

Joel felt the warmth of the sun on his face and he stretched out his body and rolled on his back, rubbing his eyes he started to flick his eyelids open and closed in quick succession. As his eyes adjusted to the light he looked up at the ceiling, it was dirty and cracked with black mould forming in the corners. No this wasn’t true, it simply couldn’t be.
Joel looked towards the window and found not huge clean balcony doors with beautiful white curtains but a tiny window with a tiny curtain that was looking like it would fall apart any second. Now his mind was in overdrive as he looked around the sparsely furnished room, it was the room from his dream. Joel pinched his arm and felt the harsh nip as he did so. He looked around again and nothing had changed at all. He slapped his face hard making his cheek sting but nothing had changed it was all the same. What the hell was happening, how could this happen?
Joel ran both his hands through is hair and then gripped his hair tightly as he shouted out.
“NOOOOOO!”
Within seconds he heard footsteps running and the bedroom door flew open and Elizabeth raced in to him.
“ Joel, what on earth is wrong?”
She stood by his bed frowning but with a look of concern washing over her sweet features. Joel pulled his hands away from his face, still shaking his head.
“This can’t be happening to me, Eliza tell me it’s a joke please… I don’t belong here.”
Although Elizabeth found the story of “the future” he had told her last night the words of a mad man she knew that he didn’t belong here, whatever the truth was. She sat on the bed and placed her hand on top of his and gave him it a comforting squeeze as she looked into his now frightened brown eyes, he looked like a lost child.
“Oh Joel, I don’t know who you are or where you’re from but I will look after you.”
Joel looked up into her eyes, she was such a trusting and kind person, but he wanted to go home, he wanted his friends and family.
Elizabeth got to her feet and smiled at him.
“Well Mr sleepy Pimentel, I have some breakfast for you even if you have slept in.”
Joel sat right up and ran his fingers through his dark curly hair as he yawned loudly.
“Am I really late?”
Elizabeth nodded at him.
“Yes you are, it’s almost six thirty.”
Joel's eyes widened now.
“What... WHAT? You can’t be serious, you’re kidding me?”
Elizabeth giggled and shook her head. “I know I was surprised too, where ever you come from Joel people sure know how to sleep and it surely wasn’t down to drinking because you didn’t last night.”
Elizabeth left Joel to get dressed, sneering he slipped on the dreary looking shirt and trousers, he looked at his smart black shoes and wanted to put them on and then he looked at the dirty boots that were scuffed and worn, go knows how many people had worn them but Joel
guessed at least three or four people before him. He trudged down the stairs and wondered how the hell he was going to live a life like this? How the hell did people live without all the comforts and things he took for granted?
When he arrived downstairs the table was set with a bowl of steaming porridge, two slices of thick bread already buttered and a mug of steaming coffee with the pot beside his plate on the table, he picked up the mug of coffee and although he grimaced at the taste he knew he had to get used to this at least for now.
Elizabeth was out in the back yard; Joel looked out of the back door to see her pounding a heavy pole into a large metal tub. Joel leant on the doorframe and watched for a little while.
“What in God’s name are you doing out here this time of the morning?”
Elizabeth physically jumped.
“ JOEL!”
Joel laughed as he tried to bring the mug up to his lips spilling some of the hot liquid on his hand in the process. It was now Elizabeth’s turn to laugh at him.
Joel walked down to the bottom of the cobbled enclosed yard to where Elizabeth was.
Joel looked into the tub and saw lots of washing.
“Bloody hell girl, you have a lot of clothes.”
Elizabeth sighed deeply.
“They aren’t mine, I take in washing from the big house, their son used to be friends with our James so I get work from them and some of their well to do friends.”
Joel nodded as he rested against the wall drinking his coffee. Suddenly he found the sight before him funny.
Elizabeth turned and glared at him.
“What?”
Joel tried to control his laughter now but as he did his voice got louder and louder. “I’ll tell ya what, you would make a great minder, even give Dave a run for his money. Hell I wouldn’t argue with you!”
Elizabeth now took the pole out of the tub and held it up towards Joel who was now in fits of laughter. As they messed around laughing Elizabeth became aware of some curtains from the other houses twitching. She stopped playing around with Joel and looked up to see a couple of women looking down at her.
“Get a good look you nosey old cows? Get away with ye!”
looked up and raised his mug in a good morning to the two girls on either side of Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth hit his arm with the pole before she took her anger out on the washing.
“Well done Joel I guess we will see Father Smith within the hour, trouble making old bitches.”
Joel shrugged his shoulders.
“What’s their problem? We were messing around.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him.
“I’m single, I live alone, I’m a girl, and you’re a boy….. Want me to carry on?”
Joel shook his head.
“Thanks for the biology lesson; I’ll go eat my breakfast which must be cold by now.”
Joel sat down and as he suspected the porridge was just slightly warm but now so it wasn’t very pleasant and he guessed Elizabeth wouldn’t have lots of sugar in the house so he just got on with it because he needed to eat because he wasn’t going to find a McDonalds or Chinese takeaway anytime soon.
Elizabeth came back and took his plates away and started to wash up, Joel got to his feet and tried to help Elizabeth

laughed at him.

“The least all I can do is the washing up Eliza.”
Shaking her head Elizabeth took the tea towel away from Joel and started to dry the plates up.
“I am sure wherever it is you are from Joel that the women still look after the men. Men do not belong in a kitchen!”
Joel wished she knew what it was like in his world, to know it wasn’t her job to run around after him or any other man for that matter. But here is this world it was just part of life and not something Elizabeth
thought about obviously.

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Hellllloo! Okay, Joel and Elizabeth are just so cuuutttteeee!😍😍😍😘 The pic above is a screenshot of Joel in a staring contest with another guy from labanda, and the guy behind him is Erick😍😍. Can you just imagine Joel staring at you like that?!😱 I'd melt or faint😊😊😁😁😁.
Don't forget to vote!😁😉😘 Te amo!!