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Motel Hell
time it was not my shutter that broke the silence of the night, but the
sound of a chair shattering on the pavement after being thrown
from the second story balcony.
‘Is everything alright?’ I exhale as I finally reach the room atop the
flights of stairs, from which chairs were being thrown.
‘Everything’s great, why do you ask?’ She replied nonchalantly,
emerging from her position, rummaging through the items in the
cupboard.
‘Then why are chairs flying off balconies?’ I move into the middle
of the room to fully take in the sight. It had clearly been some sort of
under the sea themed room back in the day. There was a ghastly
wallpaper covering the room with its assortment of coral and
tropical fish and rippling water letting the artificial light in. And of
course, to top it all off, the horrendous baby pink Lion’s Paw shell
headboard to really balance the room out.
‘Have you ever thrown a chair off a balcony? I can assure you it is
an utterly satisfying feeling.’ Again she was too focused on what she
was doing to merit me a glance. I continued to stare at her.
‘I’m serious,’ she insisted, picking up another chair in the corner
and thrusting it into my hands. ‘Give it a go.’ I looked down at the
chair, then back up at her, staring as if she had grown a third eye. ‘See,
this is what I mean by the whole jungle forest thing. All you’re
interested in is finding hidden meaning in things, in discovering
their ‘secrets.’ But have you ever thought that maybe a dump is just a
dump, or a crummy motel just a crummy motel? This place is my
jungle because I can see it for what it really is and now I can run free
in it. Maybe if you just-’ I didn’t get to hear the rest of her sentence
because I had already taken the three steps necessary to reach the
edge of the balcony and tossed the chair over it.
It landed with the most satisfying crash I have ever heard. I
turned around to see her grinning.
‘Is there anything else I can throw?’
Soon, everything from heaters to dressers were being thrown
over the balcony in the most fulfilling cacophony of sound. I didn’t
even notice when she took my camera and started taking pictures.
‘I think that’s everything,’ she sighed, a contented look sprawled
across her face.
‘Not everything,’ I replied, turning back into the room one last
time. My fingers were gripped around it and my foot braced up
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