Spreading Love | Teen Ink

Spreading Love MAG

April 28, 2008
By Emily Xia BRONZE, Warren, New Jersey
Emily Xia BRONZE, Warren, New Jersey
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

It is night in March, and the sun has set. February would probably be more appropriate for this, but when you get ideas on February twenty-fifth and they require as much effort to ­implement as this one does, well then, February isn’t really an option.

Pierre was drunk when he came up with the idea. He admits it proudly. No shame whatsoever – what’s there to be ashamed of? He’s legal; it’s well known that one is most innovative when inebriated, and it’s not like he had to drive. It’s Paris, and students in Paris don’t drive. “Driving,” Pierre says, “is for the overweight denizens of suburban America, with their gas-guzzling, Kyoto Protocol-violating SUVs.” Paris is the city of love, the greatest city in the world – obviously it must have decent public transportation. Jean-Luc is less loud about the idea, like he is about most things, but he admits that Pierre does come up with decent ideas once in a while.

So now, at 5:30 on a chilly March night, they are setting up on the sidewalk. To their left is a brightly lit ­family restaurant. It isn’t entertaining many patrons, this being a Thursday night. To their right is a boutique that’s already shut for the night and isn’t ­entertaining any patrons at all. Before them is the street; behind them is an ­alley. It’s as good a place to start as any.

Jean-Luc fiddles with the computer, watching it trace curves and figure eights while he straps a kitchen sponge on his right knee to match the one on his left. He reexamines the sponges on his elbows, flicks his helmet for luck, and plops down onto the sidewalk. They have ­already hosed it down and dumped soap on it, so instead of simply falling to the ground and wincing at the impact, he slides along the concrete.

Pierre does the same. They are slipping and rolling and dancing in the street – it’s like breakdancing, but any fun flippy moves are out of the question due to all the soap on the ground and Jean-Luc’s hand-eye coordination, or lack thereof. Instead he is reduced to a – not in any way comical! – scrambling motion, like he’s trying to stand up but not quite succeeding.

And it is then, exactly then, that the foreign students arrive. They are ­accompanied by three middle-aged women, probably their teachers. There are, Jean-Luc guesses, maybe 20 of them. All seem to be female. He imagines they are staring. He knows they’re giggling and chattering in English about the crazy French guys rolling around on the ground.

Any audience, however, is better than none.

He finishes with a squatting pivot around his left foot that makes odd scraping noises, and stands up. He glances at the ground where he’d been shuffling a moment before. Their ­bodies have pushed and prodded the clusters of soap bubbles, crushed and streaked them across the sidewalk in arcing vectors, looping around, seemingly purposeless, but all intercon­nected. They look beautiful, at least.

Pierre is holding his hands up, looking for all the world like an alien. We come in peace. There are ­actually a few boys among the mass of schoolgirls, Jean-Luc notes.

“Do you have a moment?” Pierre asks the group. Some frown without understanding, some stare blankly, some stand on tiptoe ­because they can’t hear. One of the older women says yes. This is Jean-Luc’s cue.

He picks up a clean sponge, exactly like the ones strapped to his joints. Slowly, carefully, he walks toward the students. There is one girl standing near the front, almost sideways. He starts rubbing the sponge on her back. She stands still for a moment, and Jean-Luc thinks, Yes, this might work! A second passes, two, three … and then she shifts, inching to the right. Jean-Luc can see he’s not wanted. It’s a failure.

He tries again.

This time it is a shorter girl, who only comes up to the first girl’s shoulder. Jean-Luc reaches out, and the easiest target is her face. He rubs the sponge against her face, but not like how he’d scrub a dirty counter. Instead he rubs it gently, like –

“No!” one of the women yells in French. “Not her face!” Whereas there had been an almost reverent silence, now a murmur begins snaking through the mass of students, showing in gossip and whispers.

“But can’t you see what we’re ­doing?” Pierre pleads. “We’re using sponges to pass love through the city! It is a grand project! We will all be connected by sponges!” Jean-Luc demonstrates, rubbing his arm mercilessly with the sponge, forging intangible bonds of love. He can see them, connecting him, connecting the two girls who received his treatment.

“No.” The woman stands her ground. “Not her face. She has an ­infection.”

“We are spreading love! Love cares naught for infections!” Jean-Luc demonstrates, stuffing the sponge into his mouth hungrily. He is willing to make contact with infections – only quarantine is harmful. It creates fear, separates people. He sees the students cringe away.

“Don’t touch the children.”

“Well then, obviously it’s not working! We should love each other, don’t you see?”

“Don’t touch the children.”

Pierre throws his hands into the air. “Come on, Jean-Luc,” he says. “We’re leaving.”

Jean-Luc eyes the woman. This looks like it will be harder than they thought. He packs up the sponges, ­piling them on the cart with his laptop. As he and Pierre walk away, the laptop plays “Tristan und Isolde.” Pierre is a fan.

And they are off now, spreading love with sponges.



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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 81 comments.


on Jan. 24 2011 at 4:55 pm
DaydreamBeliever GOLD, Lockport, Other
15 articles 4 photos 140 comments

Favorite Quote:
If you live to be one hundred, I want to live to be one hundred minus one day, so that I'll never have to live without you. -Winnie the Pooh

I loved the imagery and the point of view. It felt like a close friend talking, but with no mention of anyone else. 

on Jan. 24 2011 at 9:47 am
cooldasodasd

AdorableMex3 said...
on Jan. 24 2011 at 8:18 am
I Like this story

LaylaA said...
on Jan. 2 2011 at 5:38 pm
LaylaA, Buenos Aires, Other
0 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Oscar Wilde

I agree, great writing but I didn't really understand it

Icy96 PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 2 2011 at 11:39 am
Icy96 PLATINUM, Romeoville, Illinois
27 articles 2 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
Horace Mann: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”

This was somewhat confusing at first but I think I finally got the message after I went back and reread it. Lovely job!

on Dec. 11 2010 at 10:56 am
bella049117 SILVER, Shell Beach, California
6 articles 0 photos 10 comments
the main idea was i little unclear but i luved it anyway

on Nov. 19 2010 at 3:41 pm
Ahrenzell BRONZE, Foxborough, Massachusetts
3 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Possibility is no longer a factor. All that matters now is truth." - The Plague of Ahrenzell

I agree that it is unclear, but I really liked still. Nice writing!

Also, I'd love some feedback on my writing.


on Nov. 19 2010 at 9:50 am
thestorycritic GOLD, Hyderabad, Other
12 articles 0 photos 73 comments

Favorite Quote:
Live life King Size

Its definitely interesting. Little confusing though. :)

on Oct. 28 2010 at 11:16 am
jessica182x BRONZE, Bradford, Other
1 article 0 photos 4 comments
I really liked this, a little bit unclear but i appreciated the idea behind it :)

shedevil said...
on Oct. 6 2010 at 7:31 am
shedevil, Spotsylvania, Virginia
0 articles 0 photos 31 comments
Great article! i agree, it is a little confusing but i liked the imagery.

on Sep. 14 2010 at 3:01 pm
blueandorange GOLD, Jeffersonville, Indiana
14 articles 0 photos 63 comments
Great!

on Sep. 14 2010 at 10:12 am
SingleGal SILVER, Huntsville, Arkansas
5 articles 0 photos 38 comments

Favorite Quote:
PEACE LOVE DEATH

Wow ice article I am a tiny confused but, I loved it

on Aug. 23 2010 at 7:27 pm
maggiebar1 GOLD, Valparaiso, Indiana
12 articles 1 photo 49 comments
i did enjoy reading this, tho i have to admit im just abit confused... is it supposed to be a metaphor? i loved the imagery with the soapy sponges tho!

on Aug. 23 2010 at 12:14 pm
skyblue95 PLATINUM, Bear, Delaware
35 articles 1 photo 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am paraphrasing, of course. "My only fear is that when they are turned to loving they will find we are turned to hating." -Reverand Msimangu, Cry, The Beloved Country (a book by Alan Paton)

i absolutely loved this piece! it was so...different than anything i've read before. great job :) please please check out some of my work :D thanks

maczk BRONZE said...
on Aug. 1 2010 at 8:44 pm
maczk BRONZE, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
totalllyy loved the peice... brillant

on Aug. 1 2010 at 2:09 pm
hoodiequeen14 BRONZE, Evanston, Wyoming
2 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
My favorite personal quote is " Today will only happen once, MAKE IT WORTH IT!!!"

It was a very good piece, but I'm not so sure that I understood it either

on Aug. 1 2010 at 1:27 pm
Green8a8 SILVER, NY, New York
8 articles 1 photo 161 comments

Favorite Quote:
im the author of my life, unfortunately im writing in pen therefore i can't erase nothing about it.-by some crazy friend of mine

i myself didnt understand this

 


on Aug. 1 2010 at 12:10 pm
kielymarie SILVER, Sandy Hook, Connecticut
6 articles 0 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
"When you do dance, I wish you a wave 'o the sea, that you might never do nothing but that." -William Shakespeare

This was really cute :) Good job

on Aug. 1 2010 at 10:56 am
DiamondsIntheGrass GOLD, Martinsville, New Jersey
14 articles 1 photo 278 comments

Favorite Quote:
Worry is simply a misuse of the imagination.

huh? are the people trying to spread infection or love?  this is a well written peice, but i am extremely confused.

on Aug. 1 2010 at 3:44 am
neubauRAWR GOLD, Calgary, Other
18 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
I want to hear you laugh like you really mean it-Snow Patrol
Without writing, you don't know what you think- Anonymous

Wow this was awesome!! I really liked it! Any feedback you could give me on my pieces would help!!

Thanks!