Cats, nails and bottles

(This is a bit of experimental staff, call it a storyboard, a raw material for a short film, or simply character sketching)

Character introduction:-

Heimarr- An old Schoolmaster of 65, imparting mathematical knowledge among young minds. He has a queer knack of collecting bottles and containers of unique shapes and sizes.

Selma- A quaint young girl of 20 who has an unnerving habit of storing cat cadavers in the rusty iron trunk beneath her bed, so often mistaken by general people as her old trunk for keeping her dolls.

Adonis- A narcissist fellow with long hair and sharp nails. He has a tendency of curving A’s on surfaces his nails can test.

It is a quiet afternoon in the small town of Innsbruck. Heimarr has entered the little departmental store as he has been informed by the manager that a bottle of the most unusual shape has arrived in the containers section. He has been a faithful customer here, and the camaraderie he shares with the staffs here is always helpful at times in a small town where acquaintance matters more than property. He has been gazing towards the bottle for a few minutes when the turnstile swings and Selma enters. The bottle intrigues her too, for it is of the shape of the tail of a cat and also designed like one. They both stand beside each other, watching, motionless, with different sort of admiration in their eyes. The faint smell of Lavender that fills the corner as Selma draws closer offers an amorous distraction to the old man. He looks sideways and is amused a little to find a beautiful lady with youthful promises standing by his side sharing his interest. The lonely man can hardly suppress his delight as he attempts to initiate a conversation with her-

H : Bottles are essentially feminine, aren’t they?

S: feminine, sure? I am more inclined to think they are feline, at least in this case. (Points towards bottles)

H: Ah yes, but I am talking about bottles in general.

S: not that it interests me, but I would certainly like to know the answer, why feminine, sir?

H: Curves, my lady, the sharp, majestic curves all over them. Tell me what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say,CURVES?

S: Well, geometry? (Smirks)

H: Tell me about it! (Grins)

S: Well, jokes apart..

H: No! No! Geometry is sexy, but look at the bottles my dear. Such lovely shapes, curvy bodies, how can one not admire them, love them and keep them to oneself for a nice company?

S: (Smirks at his lewd hints) I was thinking something else though.

H: I am all ears.

S: Well, these bottles are funny.

H: Without a shred of doubt, womankind has an eerie affection towards cats, freaks me out..

S: No, I mean, look, it’s their tails right? When you cut a cat’s tail, you get warm, red blood streaming out of the veins. But here, unscrew the cork, and all you get is crystal clear water trickling down your throat with a chilling sensation on a sultry day. Isn’t that funny? (As she speak, her eyes flash a red gleam as she goes on dreamily)

H: (Quite disturbed at the thought, an uneasy clearing of his throat) Why, I have never thought about it!

While they were speaking, Adonis had appeared through aisle of shelves filled with colorful containers. The shimmering, setting sun paints the room with a multitude of colors and the aisle is resplendent with a dim glow emanating from the bottles. Adonis had paid little heed to them or the people around him. He was busy curving an A with her index fingernail on the wooden plaque that described, ‘Bottles and Boxes’. As he is applying the finishing touch with the horizontal line bisecting the towering slants of A, a screeching sound makes Heimarr and Selma aware that they are not without company. Now that he is finished, Adonis looks up and finds them staring at him and the wooden plaque with mild surprise. He followed their gaze. The plaque now reads, ‘A Bottles and Boxes’.

H: hey, hey you, what are doing there?

S: You need primary level grammar lessons before anything, Mr. A.

A: and you need a lesson about minding your own business, pretty lady.

H: Thank you, but we were doing that before you came meddling in.

A: (Smirking mysteriously) Did I, really?