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Live Encounters Aotearoa New Zealand Poets & Writers April 2023
Now you see it, now you don’t, story by Edna Heled
She spotted it. Those gushing colours were unmistakable. A young woman was standing at the entrance to the big crowded hall, searching for a place to sit.
Melissa jumped up from the other side and started to row her way through piles of scrunched bodies towards the door. She was waiting for this moment for so long, she almost gave up hope. Now it was shining right in front of her eyes. But when she got to the middle of the room, the woman was gone.
Breathless, Melissa crashed into the sitting masses, stepping on people. What if the woman moved to the adjacent marquee, where her daughter was at a yoga class? “I must go out!” She created a wave of panic as everyone got up to make room. “What’s wrong, are you in distress, need an ambulance?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” She was not, not at all, but how could she tell that her colossal storm was over a scarf, a silly scarf made of colourful silken handkerchiefs that her daughter made in a sewing class, and she stupidly took to the op-shop in a decluttering spree, not realizing how important it was?
“It’s somewhere in the house, we’ll find it,” she lied to the upset girl. For months she walked the streets like a haunted fox, her eyes popping, ready to jump on whoever bought it, pay a fortune, get it back.
Now it had finally showed up, just to disappear again among the thousands of festival goers.
© Edna Heled
Edna Heled is an artist, counsellor, travel journalist, and writer from Auckland. She studied film, visual arts, and art therapy (MA) overseas, and has BA Hons in Psychology at the University of Auckland. Her poems, articles and short stories are widely published in NZ, Australia, Israel, and USA, including NZ Herald, Short and Twisted, Flash Frontier, Cloud Ink, Backstory Australia, Landing Press, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook, Flash Frontier, NZPS Kissing a Ghost, Fine Line, Pomona, Seashores and many more.