Christmas Candle
Miss Hatshepsut
loved animals (especially cats), imported perfumes, and imported candles.
However, she could not afford these things she loved. She did not even
have enough money for a “pocket-sized” puppy. For Christmas
Eve it was all she could do to buy some fish and noodles, which she prepared
with cooked prunes. Presents, of course, were way out of her reach. After
she had finished preparing for supper, she got dressed and drew a deep
line with black crayon along the inside corners of her eyes to distance
them from her nose, while she painted a line the width of the crayon from
the outside corners of her eyes almost across to her ears. Then she tied
a headband around her forehead. Her upper lip was carefully outlined,
and the lower one visibly tucked in. She felt good and was extremely satisfied
with the way she looked. As if she were about to embark on a conquest.
She went over to the window and looked down at the rivers.
“The clouds have crossed the water,” she concluded.
She carefully unwrapped the gold paper and took out the glass snail.
She did not like the silvery powder filling the shell. So she gently
lifted the wax seal and poured the contents down the washbasin. Then
she washed the shell, dried it, and refilled it with some of her own
perfumed blue bath powder. After this she replaced the wax seal with
the small wick. Now the snail could be once again used as a decorative
candle, and it glittered beautifully from its blue abdomen. The color
of the snail recalled the eyes of the young man, who she was expecting
to visit.
“Atlantis blue,” said the girl and amazed herself with these
words.
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