a little fantasy dress

One day while I was on my way to the dentist, and riding a jeepney on a hot Friday afternoon, my earphones plugged in and playing The Stone Roses' Love Spreads thereby effectively drowning out the cacophony of street noises, a little fantasy came unbidden to me. Maybe it was the song. Maybe it was the unexplainable surge of optimism in my heart. Maybe it was the lingering memory of something that put a smile to my face.

It was a little love story fantasy and somehow I saw myself in it wearing a very specific dress. It was a dress I have been looking at every time I went to the supermarket. It was sold in one of the bargain stalls and did not even have a brand but it was nicely made. It was inexpensive too, except that I had been really scrimping for England and monthly bills so I could not just buy things. I already got a new dress for my birthday last month (another inexpensive piece from the same stall) and another new one barely a month after seemed too extravagant.

However that little fantasy played repeatedly in my head and after the dentist appointment I found myself in the supermarket and gravitating towards that bargain stall.

I said to myself that if the dress was still there then I would buy it. It has been there since January and it was possible that it would have been bought already.

All the other dresses that were displayed with it were already gone. All sold out.

I couldn't find the fantasy dress.

One final sweep of the rack and there it was. My heart leapt.

And now the dress is mine.