The Encounter

It was a cold winter morning and I could feel the wind blow against my window. I had been laying in my warm bed for the past half hour, even though my mother had called my name many times. I chose to ignore her, along with my alarm clock that continued to sound off every ten minutes. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. It was my mother letting me know that it was 8 o'clock and if I continued to refuse to get up, I would offically be late for school. I managed to get myself out of bed, showered and dressed in mere minutes. I attempted to hitch a ride with my mother, but she had already left for work. While skimming through my agenda, it suddenly dawned on me that I had to write a math test first period. I began to panic. I looked on my watch and saw that it was already 8:16. School started at 8:30 and I lived 10 blocks away. I packed my binders into my school bag and proceeded to run to school. After five blocks, I was out of breath and decided to take a short break. It was then that I heard someone call my name in the distance. "Erica...ERICA!" screamed the mysterious voice, mockingly. I turned around but couldn't see anyone. Just then, I felt my knees hit the ground. As I looked up, the mysterious person was revealed to me. It was Kristina: my worst enemy. My heart stopped. She had purposely bumped into me and made me fall. I HATED Kristina ever since she cut off my luscious locks as a joke at her 16th birthday party. We hadn't spoken since. Up until now, I had tried to avoid her butI had no where to run. "Well, hello Erica. Long time no talk." she said, sarcastically. "I see you haven't changed." I replied. She smiled at me, "I see you're hair has started to grow back." My face was pitch red. I looked at my watch, it was now 8:26, so I stated the obvious, "I think I'm going to be late, I should probably go." Kristina looked at me as if she were about to laugh in my face. I began to walk away. "Sure, you always run away from your problems." she shouted at me. I cringed. I couldn't stand her and her matter of fact remarks, so I turned around to give her a piece of my mind. "You know what Kristina!? You have always been jealous of me and my hair. Thats why you cut it all off! All to embarrass me. My hair was the only thing I had going for me and you cut it off!" My eyes began to well up. " You are a B!@$h!" I continued. Kristina stood there, with a blank stare on her face. Ah Ha! And with a that, I proceeded to run to school. It was 8:45 and I was extremely late. Any possibility of me writing my math test had flown out the window. Realizing this, I stopped running and began to walk. I felt content that I had seen Kristina and finally voiced my opinions about her to her face. Sure, I got a detention for being late and I never did get to write my test, but I was happy. And my hair grew back in no time! Phew.

Pillow Talk

Sure, laugh all you want. I get abused on the regular, slobbered and perspired on and am sometimes used as a Kleenex, but let’s get this straight: I know more secrets than any of you. With you, I’ve laughed at the best of times and cried at the worst of times. I’ve experienced everything you have, while in bed. In fact, some may have experienced more intimacy with me than with any other humans. Take that how you want, but I know everything. I catch your tears when your boyfriend, or girlfriend, gives you the whole “it’s not you, it’s me” routine. When you have a cold, and you’re too lazy to wipe your nose with a Kleenex, I take it. I mean, we still need to solve the drool and perspiration damages, but that could be easily fixed with a light weight soft vinyl pillow case. It helps you and it helps me. Just sayin’ guys. You see I’ve been switched around from room to room. Yes, I’m that ol’ faithful pillow that you can run to when that new pillow you bought just isn’t the same. Right?

Early Saturday morning, my previous owner, whom I now resent, laid upon me as she read the weekend flyers. Now, the whole morning comes as a blur to me, but from what I remember I heard “Walmart”, “sale” and “pillow” all in the same sentence. This can’t be good. I knew what was coming. Quietly, I began to weep. I turned to my fellow pillow next to me. I tried to break the news to him, but he didn’t want to hear it. It was too much of a heartbreak, for both of us.

Five years together, and this is how you repay me? I screamed at my owner. I obviously didn’t scream loud enough because she proceeded to carry me out of her room without hesitation. And that’s when I heard it. “It’s not you, it’s me”, she pleaded as she stuffed me into the linen closet. I was in disbelief. Was this really happening? Oh no you didn’t girlfriend. Did she really just attempt to pull that routine on me? It seemed that I had heard that line a million times before, but never to me. How could she? I was so used to comforting those who had just been dumped. But here I was, officially dumped. For ten weeks I was left alone in the closet. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t until I heard my owner’s voice approaching the linen closet one night. Ah ha! I knew she would come back, they always do. The closet door opened. Light. I was home again. She grabbed me roughly and threw me into the hands of a much younger, greasier version of her. Wait, this couldn’t be…her daughter? I heard voices downstairs and the young girl ran to the direction of the voices. Once again, what happened next was a blur. From what I remember I had been whipped around, hit, punched, kicked and thrown into the hands of the childish voices. And then it happened. I felt it. A bang. I WAS SHOT! I felt around for a wound, then realized I had split open into two. Feathers began to fall out. I had been brutally assaulted. What I was once was, I was no longer.

You would never have guessed....

You would never have guessed what happened when I cut off all my fingers while cutting salami. My phone was ringing off the hook but I was too occupied with the salami. I didn't notice at first, as the machine was rather loud but I let it ring a few times through. It became obvious that no one was home, so with my sticky hands, I ran to the phone. I was in such a rush that I knocked over my Madre’s favourite picture of my great great great grandfather. At this point, I had become flustered trying to find the phone, I didn't remember that I had left it behind the couch pillow earlier when I was talking to Luigi, my Padre. I finally answered the phone, but it was too late; the other end was dead. I spotted my Ipod across the room and thought it would be a good idea to put some music on while working, as I believed it would make me work faster. Suddenly, I felt an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Could it have been a sign? I had become so easily distracted; I wasn’t getting my work done. Padre, being the aggressive man he is, was going to be very angry with me. I got right back to work and began cutting the salami. Suddenly, the meat cutter began making a strange noise, but I could not find where it was coming from. In the 10 years I have been cutting salami, I had never experienced this. I ignored the noise. A sudden urge to scratch my leg came over me, and as I looked down, I noticed blood drops on my shoes. My heart was racing. I looked at my hand and saw that it had turned blue. I panicked. I tried to turn of the machine but I couldn’t. I began to struggle and attempted to shut off the switch found on the left side of the machine. It wouldn’t turn off. My hand had become butchered! Then it hit me. I was overcome by this unstoppable craving for McDonalds. And with my fingers half off, the only thing I could think about was how I was possibly going to get there. And I swear to you, that is exactly how it all went down.

5 Books I Would Eat

If I were to eat any five books, whether I loved them or hated them, I would choose Push, Not Quite What I Was Planning, DeNiro's Game, 1984 and Merchant of Venice.

Push by Sapphire: This novel is amazingly disturbing. It is easily one of the most raw and real novels in existence. It follows a young girl, Precious Jones, who up until now has been invisible to the world. Her mother isolates her and abuses her while her father constantly rapes her. Precious, pregnant with her second child by her father, meets a determined teacher and group of girls who take her on a journey of education and enlightment: the two things Precious has been robbed of. Push is a horrific story filled with hope, as its brillant, blunt and merciless storyline finds a place in your heart. Your sympathy for Precious rids itself by the end of the novel, as it is clear Precious is able to, for the first time, make it on her own. I would definitely eat it up.

Not Quite What I Was Planning by Famous and Obsecure Writers: One life. Six words. What's yours? This novel is comprised of thousands of people's 'six word memoirs'. It is simple and addictive as you take a glimpse at humanity, six words at a time. From pouring emotions of bittersweet romances to proud achievments and horrible regrets, atleast one of these tales will relate to your life, and you cant help but laugh. Everyone has a six word story to tell. Eat up!

DeNiro's Game by Rawi Hage: I read this novel last year for my ISU in English. It took me a while to warm up to it, but for what it's worth, I did appreciate it. Hage presents a protrait of life in the ruins of Beirut, Lebanon, that is fused together by Arabic poetry. "Ten thousand bombs have fallen...", a continious opening sentence to every chapter that strikes you each time. Both characters want so much and try so hard to achieve it. It's who gets out on top that is suprising. Plus, they make reference to Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino... two of my favourite actors. I would eat it but it may cause some indigestion.

1984 by George Orwell: I HATED this novel. Everything about it. I read this in my literature class last semester. Sure, it's a classic, but really? Totalitarianism... please. I can't lie, I skimmed through most of the book. It was enough to write an essay about it and get a 75%. If I were to eat this novel I would most likely puke it back up. And the movie wasn't that much of a pleasure to watch either. Trust.

Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare: Ahh.. Shakespeare. What highschool student likes Shakespeare? Unheard of. Just kidding. I liked this play ONLY because it was, generally, funny. Unlike some of Shakspeare's other works, it wasn't THAT difficult to understand. And who doesn't like a crazy character like Shylock? Exactly. I also think I enjoyed this play because I had a teacher who knew what she was talking about, making the process of reading Shakepeare more enjoyable and less stressful.

25 Things

The 25 things I like to write or write about are:

1. Myself, obviously
2. My friends/family
3. Random people I may have encountered in my life
4. My life experiences
5. Trips
6. Happiness
7. Inspirational life sayings
8. Music
9. Facebook
10. Msn
11. Text messages
12. Movies
13. Quotes
14. Love
15. World history
16. Stories - funny or scary
17. Important people
18. Notorious newsmakers
19. Gossip
20. Psycology
21. 'Taboo' topics
22. My opinions on anything
23. World Issues
24. My life goals
25. Food

About Me

My name is Erica Infanti. I was born on February 28th, 1992, making me 17 years old. I have been attending Orchard Park Secondary School for the past 2 years, and orginally attended Cardinal Newman Secondary School. My hopes for the future are to go to university, McMaster preferably, and study English and histories. After university, I plan on becoming a highschool teacher, more specifically, an English teacher.

I like to think of myself as a well informed individual, as I enjoy learning and experiencing new things, and I am generally into almost anything. I want to travel the world, especially Western Europe, and visit family in Italy. I enjoy listening to any kind of music and learning about the different types. I'm laid back when it comes to certain situations and I don't let much bother me. I would consider myself very easy going when it comes to meeting people and making friends. On the regular, you can find me hanging out with my friends and family or lounging around.