"Bloop, Bloop, Bloop, Bloop," the water filter continued its monotonous work. My bright orange goldfish didn’t seem at all perturbed by my face looming over him through the glass.
"Hey, Mom" I said as I wandered into the living room.
It was a beautiful day outside, although I didn’t notice it much as I walked along. I was studying the footpath, and counting the pieces of gum stuck to the cement. When I arrived at the mall, which was only a short walk from my house, I walked into the first shop I found, a bookstore, and started to randomly pick magazines off the shelf, and skim through them.
I lined up and concentrated on my order. As I reached the head of the queue, I noticed people all around were whispering to each other. I looked up and saw, in the line next to me, Taylor Hanson. I was so shocked, I turned straight back to the line, trying to calm myself down. Maybe I wasn’t fanatical, but this was Taylor Hanson! I took a deep breath and looked at him again. He was counting money in his hand, but I could tell it was him. The hair, the face, the clothes….definitely Taylor. We reached the head of our respective lines at the same time. I ordered my burger, straining to hear what Taylor was saying. While the cashier was getting my order, I tried to think of something to say that would sound mature. I summoned up my nerves and leaned over to him. "You’re Taylor Hanson, aren’t you?"
I took the fish food off the shelf next to my tank, and sprinkled it across the surface of the water. Sighing, I returned to my bed, where I had been lying aimlessly. I had Hanson’s ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ playing on my CD player, and it was playing for the third time in a row. I glanced at my watch for what must have been the eighth time in as many minutes. I was incredibly bored. Humming the tune to ‘Weird’, I rolled off my bed and started towards the hall.
My Mother looked up. "Oh, hi Rhian" she said absently, before returning to her book.
"I think I’ll go down to the mall" I said, without enthusiasm.
"OK, honey, have fun" she mumbled, caught up in her book. I walked back to my room and grabbed my purse. "See ya", I called as I closed the front door after me.
An article on Hanson caught my eye in a magazine. I had enjoyed Hanson’s music ever since I had first heard MMMBop on MTV. I wasn’t fanatical, but I really enjoyed their music, and had decided they didn’t look too bad, either. I guess I was also a bit proud that they came from Tulsa, my home town. When, a year ago, I told people where I came from, their usual reaction was "Where?" But now, as soon as you mentioned Tulsa, they said "Oh, Hanson’s home town." Those guys sure were making it big.
I decided after about ten minutes of reading, to head for Burger King.