Eco House

Tiny feet running around -Wipe the silly smile off your face. This isn't about children- . Little jumps. Bathroom. False ceilings. Creepy noises. Squeaking. Rats. Old house by the Canal. Old woman. Forget pest control. A subtle invitation to abandon ship. Hell no! Old woman travelling. Girl left to face the ... rats. Mata-hari eyes through the kitchen vent. No. Not the kitchen, please! Nightmares. Silence next. A dying ground for a poisoned rat? Honoured. First comes the smell. Crescendo. Disgusting flies. One. Three. Six. Windows closed. A fly struggles inside a ceiling-lightspot. Mistery solved: the vent. Smell diminuendo. Old woman returns. Rice grains in the bathtub, moving. Escaping through the gaps in the skylight: maggots. No point in throwing up. Let the old woman deal with them. She does. Episode never mentioned. A dried-up corpse above their heads.

mammoths and hairdressers

A foreign city. Darkness. Rain in buckets. Soaked feet. Narrow streets. Open doors leading to a patio. Mammoths. Unisex hairdressers advertising male cuts for €16. Two strangers go in. Three languages spoken at that improvised Tower of Babel. Boy needs a haircut. Girl seats on spare chair. Hair is washed. Boy is quiet. Scissors next. Boy instructs girl. Girl instructs hairdresser. Boy looks serious, focused. Girl thinks she's never been waiting at the hairdressers for a boy before. She might never do it again. Fishnet tights and a short dress. A pull in the fine mesh. Girl plays with it and smiles at the boy, reassuringly. Hairdresser's doing a good job. Boy remains silent. He is quiet, maybe shy, and looks sad - not at all the girl's type but she's at the hairdressers with him. Girl wonders what that means. Job is done. Boy asks the girl what she thinks. She wants to run her hand through the recent haircut and kiss him. Girl smiles: ' I love it'. Rain is taking a break as a boy and a girl walk out into the dark, narrow street holding hands.
It happened a hundred years ago. It happened today.