An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out. Prompt 10 – Ignorance
“Didn't you know? I've known that for ages.”
There were always kids who had always known that, in order to seem strong in the world, they had to take a position of power. They lied a lot. Solly was the one who didn't know this. She was good at reading, always looking into the souls on the page, and she had a good memory and got good grades in school, but she didn't see the point of lying. Content with herself as she was, she assumed that others, similarly, had no need to lie.
“So when did they start going out together?” she asked her friends, girls with the air and the bodies of people who know things. They emanated strength.
“Oh, ages. They've been going out together since ...” They trailed off, as if they could hardly recall when Helen and Fred had first started going out together, it had been so long ago. “Ages.”
“Oh.” Solly thought it over. “But wasn't Fred still – you know -” She broke off, wondering how to put it delicately. She'd seen Fred looking at Chris, and that had only been days ago, maybe last week, and she had seen Chris suddenly looking up at him. There had been a lot in that look between them. That look had been like a shaft of light passing between their eyes, making their faces suddenly pure. When had all that changed? Less than a week did not seem to her 'ages ago.'
“Still what?” the other girls asked, eagerly. At that moment their faces were not so pretty, but hungry. Avid. Not knowing why she had broken off her words, their imaginations were working wildly. “What?”
Their craving frightened Solly. She didn't want to throw anyone to those minds to be chewed over and spat out down the steet after school in hints that came to the ears of the grown ups, the people with the power and jobs to offer, the people who were the whole town, who would say, 'Oh, she's not nice', or 'We don't want him around.'
Trying to give a light, little laugh, Solly sought for other words, hoping to make them forget that she had started to say something else. “Ages ago?” she asked. “Like last night, you mean?”
They gave her filthy looks then. They heard sarcasm, and didn't see the joke.
“Solly, why can't you keep up?” Then they were walking away, as if she had spoiled a game, and she was left looking at their backs, wondering how she had made them angry and wishing that instead that she was reading a book.
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"Ignorance" copyright by Morva Shepley
http://morvahouse.blogspot.com
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