Chasing Bubbles

I used to chase bubbles as a child. Sometimes my brother would blow bubbles for hours, and I would go up and down the yard chasing them and watching them pop. My parents thought that he was being unfair, that he wasn’t giving me a turn. But it wasn’t that, I just loved chasing them.

I used to imagine that each bubble was a little window into a room. I would pretend that there were princesses sitting in their castles, with their long blonde hair. A lady would be brushing it, a maid, or lady-in-waiting, whatever that meant. I liked princesses back then, the more fanciful and silly the better.

I would imagine switching roles with them, having someone brush my hair, not having any responsibilities. Not having to do chores or go to school. I liked to imagine that I had dresses of all different colors, which is funny because I really only wanted to wear pink. I’m glad I grew out of that phase. My husband probably is too.

There were other things in the bubbles besides princesses though. Sometimes there were handsome knights, or kindly kings. I would imagine jesters in their funny outfits dancing and prancing around. Juggling and doing tricks, telling jokes.

Bubbles pop of course, but there are always more bubbles. I would continue some stories from one bubble to the next, each one like a scene in a movie that I would see play out. There would be a princess in the first bubble, sitting in her chair. *POP* Then she would see a knight out of her window. *POP* The knight would take off his helmet to reveal how handsome he was. *POP* Then he would bring her flowers in her room. *POP* There would be a wedding. *POP* And a baby. *POP* My own little movie. Sometimes I would be the princess, sometimes I would be the baby. Nothing very original, I’m afraid.

Then one day, I really did see someone in a bubble. She wasn’t a princess, or at least, not a disney one. She was wearing a weird shirt, like a tunic I guess, and she had short brown hair. She was small and perfect, like the most perfect doll. She was banging on the side of the bubble like she was trying to get out. *POP* I popped the bubble to try and save her, but she was still there in the next one, still desperate. I didn’t know what to do, so I just kept chasing the bubbles. She turned around, she looked like she was scared, but she had a knife in her hand. *POP* Several knights were in her room, but they didn’t have shiny armor and they weren’t handsome. *POP* The woman was struggling against them, one of them was lying on the floor *POP* They dragged her out of the room. *POP* The room was still there, but it had only the one man, lying motionless.

I didn’t chase bubbles after that.