Musée du Ben

Tuesday 21th February 2005

6:00pm

London

The little fresh meat smelled luscious and wrapped with tidy smooth skin. The eyes stared at a girl from the opposite house fiercely. The wolves usually get hungry in spring. Once its prey is found, no matter the circumstances the hungry wolf tears the skin, savours blood and meat of the prey. The gaze got intense by time. Preparing himself to enjoy the feast, the old man smirked looking at the girl.

THE OLD MAN

    In a quiet peaceful neighbourhood of High street Liverpool, the little girl jumped into her tiny boots and puppy followed her. Isabella was her name. She blooms to 6 this May. She was bought up in a pampered fashion by her lovely family. Her father is a teacher in a nearby school and the mother creates art and sells the paintings in an art expo. Her home was painted mild pink like a strawberry ice cream although Bella’s favourite colour was bright red. Bella loves her dear most barbie doll and plays with it all the time. She delights looking at herself in the mirror a lot and fascinated towards shining products. ’She might become an actress in the future’ her mother thought.

    Opposite to Bella’s house, there was an old house painted dark grey. The house looks creepy with a dead tree in the lawn. Brown leaves were found all over the roof. Sometimes mild Beethoven’s symphony is heard from the house in the dusk. The light is quite dim at the entrance and the house looks dark at night. The house had something dead inside. An Old man lived alone in that house. Wrinkles raced near his eyes and white hair rooted deep in the head. The Old man used to sit near the window and gaze the road, people and sometimes Bella. Whenever Bella walks to school, plays with barbie, follows her puppy, the old eyes followed her. Bella once noticed the old man staring right at her and felt scared. She saw the old man walking out of the house at 9 P.M to dump the garbage bag roadside. He was muscular, wearing dull cotton and used a black cane for walking. The Old man slowly turned his head to Bella’s room window and saw her staring at him, Bella quickly runs to her bed breathing heavily. Those horrifying eyes were still in the mind of Bella. From then she hardly came out of the house. She was grown introvert and self-contained. She detached herself from society and spent most of her time alone at home. The old man became a nightmare in her childhood.

TAP TO LIKE

    The screen was bright with distinct colours, she jumped with joy when she unwrapped the gift from her father on Bella’s 16th birthday. It was an iPhone. Little did she knew, that this thing in her hand was going to be the beginning of worst times. She became over-infatuated with the phone and fell into the whirlpool of social media. It helped as an escape from reality filled with fake people. Meanwhile, the puberty made Bella become obsessed with looks and fashion. She believed in the Internet’s fame and love. Snaps of her beauty got uploaded in the portal. Foundation glowed her, mascara gave her detailing and perfumes fumed to fury over her body. She pulled off her shining handbags better than Kardashian. Tight red fabrics gripped her body and curves became curvier. Red stained her lips and hair. The screen taps grew faster and followers hit nearly millions.

She drifted to night clubs with her friends and the memories got stored in the story archive instead of the heart. Notifications popped like bubbles in a beer and smileys hits the roof. Bella’s eyes stuck to her bright screens and owing to fame she started posting pictures of her in bikini and exposed cleaves with badass description. She generated money flow by sponsoring makeup products on her account. Literally, she posted everything about location, food and her activities. She glided beautifully like an eagle and her eyes burned the stereotypes. She had no problem with the old man staring at her and never got a nightmare since then. The whole neighbourhood filled with her scent.

STEP BACK

    Amidst the farm of social media fame, there sprouted few weeds. Her account got the attention of hungry wolves. Those lusty eyes watched her, stared at her body and made sexual comments. The whole world of the dark website had an eye on her. From the little Bella concerned about Oldman’s stare to teen Bella relish having eyes on her, she grew up. The privacy wall built around her has been easily breached. Every lusty wolf shared her pictures and savoured her bosoms and butt. The social media lust gradually moved to reality. Bella got eyes staring at her at the streets she walked, hands reaching to grab her gluten in clubs and verbal abuse on her body increased. These made her disgust, depressed and upset. She decided to put an end to everything.

    Bella deleted all her pictures from her social media account and started posting about feminism, promoting the idea in a healthy way. The zip raised from cleave to neck. Her bold posts about women positivity grabbed the attention of other feminists. She was invited to join the meetup weekly on women empowerment where she explained about the exploitation she went through. She repented about being such a bitch for money and fame. Yet the weed stayed in her farm. Hungry eyes remained starving. Bella realized it wasn’t about her body, it was about the eyes and she is a woman.

    In the evening of Christmas, as she walked along the bridge near home, she was intercepted by two men. It was all grey due to the mist and she couldn’t see their face except the wolf tattoo on one’s arm. She stepped back in fear which oozed through her nerves. Blue and Red lights discharged through the fog and siren pierced the ears. The men fled the place owing to the arrival of cops. One cop stood down from the car and approached Bella. “The weak shall stay at home!” said the cop and warned her about the wolves. The cop requested her to leave the bridge soon. Bella left to her home soon with the word ringing in her ears, “Weak…. Weak……Weak”.

UNVEILING

    Lying on the bed her thoughts decided to let fear dissolve. Bella became angry and more frustrated about the sick society she lives in. She pulled off her python leather bag and equipped it with pepper spray and a sharp pocket knife. She wouldn’t just give up for wolves. Her eyes stained red and fire flowed in her nerves. Planning to burn all the weeds root and stem, Bella stepped out the next day for her weekly meetup. It was late evening when she returned to the neighbourhood. The street was covered with mist and she could see two shadows approaching her. It was the same men with wolf tattoo walking towards her in front of the home.

    A glare of light sparked the eyes of wolves. Bella stood still pointing the knife and spray in towards them. Aiming at their throat she moved forward and the wolves stepped back. Bamm! one of the men fell hitting the garbage can near the old man’s house. Redness raged over Bella’s eyes. Tuck…Tuck! the black cane walked its way from the house. Bang! A bullet pierced to the sky and made the clouds rumble. It was the old man who stood behind the wolves with his cane. The men fled from his sight. Bella was awestruck by the arrival of the old man. The lightning flashed across the street and she was shocked again to see the old man’s eye tainted white and grey. The Old man was blind! Bella wondered how the Oldman recognized she’s in trouble. “The scent! It was strong! and I can sense hungry breathes of a wolf” said the Old man.

    The Old man invited her for tea in his house. She stepped into the creepy house. She’s comfortable and confident now as she realized the old man’s no threat. Inside the house, she saw framed photographs of the old man and his late wife. To the centre she found medals hanging from the wall, she took a closer look at a written inscription in the wall. ‘Honouring WW2 war veteran Commander Bertram Ramsay (16th Infantry Regiment)’. It also said that Ramsay lost his eyesight while a grenade exploded near him and few metal pieces injured his eye.

Bella felt safe and strong as she sat there sipping the tea with the Oldman and Beethoven’s Fur Elise filled the atmosphere from the gramophone.