Ekphrasis Exercise- Stephanie Couturier’s “Barendrecht”

Ekphrasis Exercise- Stephanie Couturier’s “Barendrecht”

           

            The little girl looked at the houses across the water. They looked nice, she thought. Like nice people would live there. Their lawns were freshly cut; the orange one on the right had a patio table and chairs. The people inside probably had summer cookouts and barbeques there. They each had a small dock, the perfect height for jumping into the water. Her daddy bought supplies to make one, but hadn’t been able to start yet. It was just sitting in the backyard, waiting to be made. The girl looked at her own backyard, and winced. She hoped the kids across the water wouldn’t think her dirty or weird. When she asked her daddy why it wasn’t green, but all dirt, he said, “Because no one had lived here in a very long time. Now go grab your suitcase out of the car and put it in your room.”

            As she stood there, she was careful not to touch the windowsill. There were dead bugs laying on it, covered with a large layer of dust. The rest of the house needed a deep clean too. She felt like she was the only person who had been in her room in years, and felt afraid to touch anything for fear of disturbing something that had been there long before her.

            As the days went by, the house became friendlier. Her mommy and daddy showed the men where to put the furniture, and even let her help, so that it started to feel just like their old house. They got TV one day, and Internet the next. Her mommy helped her hang up her pictures in her room, and unpack the many boxes, piled almost up to her ceiling. There were boxes piled everywhere, and sometimes she would see one that would be in the wrong place, like when there was one labeled “kitchen” in her bathroom, and she would tell her daddy and he would move it.

            Everyday she looked out the window at the houses across the street. Sometimes she saw people moving around the house, and if she were lucky, the kids would come outside and play. There were three of them, two boys who seemed to be about her age, and one girl who looked a little younger. The house on the right had a dog, a golden retriever, and the kids would play ball with him. Sometimes he would even jump into the water!

            After about a week of living there, while she was watching them play together, one of the boys looked up and saw her staring. Not knowing what to do, the little girl ducked down below the windowsill, out of sight. Breathing heavily, she peeked back up to see if they were still looking, only to find that they were gone. Confused, she looked inside each window to see if they had gone in. Finding nothing, her heart started to beat faster. What if they saw her, and told their parents? What if they told her parents? She would get in trouble for spying! The doorbell rang, and she heard her mommy walk from the kitchen to answer it. She ran towards the door, hiding behind the wall that separated the foyer and the living room. It was them! The boys and girl from across the street! Heart racing, she tried to listen to what they were saying.

            “Melanie,” her mommy yelled, “there are some kids here who want to play with you.” Melanie crept around from behind the wall, not sure she heard her correctly. Her mommy smiled and said, “this is Paul, George, and Sally. They live across the water.”

            “Hi,” she said, looking down, “I’m Melanie.”

            “Do you want to come over and play with us? We were playing sailor.” Melanie agreed, and beaming, walked towards the door. She thinks she might like it here after all.