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Post by Leonia Walters on Sept 25, 2011 14:24:22 GMT -5
Leonia stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket and let out a rather loud sigh. The city was a totally different place from anywhere she lived. From the small town in Australia to another small town up north, nothing could ever compare to New York City. Yet, it was a bit easier earning money in those small towns and actually making a living. Leonia didn't know where to even start to even find a place to stay. Currently, she was living in a closet sized room on top of a store that looked like it went out of business ages ago. What she was doing was probably illegal, but quite frankly, she didn't care nor did she have the money to pay for an actually small one room apartment. Leonia figured that all striving artists had to start somewhere, even if they were living in what looked like a closet.
Her amber eyes looked around at the people surrounding her. She caught sight of a man's wallet hanging out of his back pocket. Yes, it looked like it was full of cash. All she would have to do was steal it, and then she could buy food, things for her paintings, and maybe even start saving for a real place to stay. Morality took over, however, as she let the man walk away with his wallet. Leonia knew she couldn't do such a thing, but how else was she going to live?
Leonia sat down on a bench and hunched over. Small tears ran down her face, but she hid them from the public eye. Quite honestly, the girl wished she was home with her brother. Then again, her brother probably wasn't even home anymore so there wasn't even a point to go home. Leonia believed she would never make it as an artist in the city. What was the girl supposed to do now? |
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Sept 26, 2011 21:48:32 GMT -5
Chiara was, in short, having a bad day. She woke up in her crappy apartment, ate the reasonably crappy breakfast food her income had to offer, then went out to do a crappy job on some mafia busy work. After which, she got no money and decided to go looking for a "real job".
Needless to say, that ended crappily too.
So, full of the rage of a thousand firey suns, she slammed herself into a bench. She wished she'd had someone to scream at. Or rant to. Or at least help find her a job.
In her infinite obliviousness (that she will never admit to), Chiara hadn't noticed she'd sat down next to someone on the bench she forcefully took over.
"Ciao," she acknowledged, bobbing her head slightly towards the young woman. The other girl didn't seem to be having a terrific day either, Chiara noticed, deepening her scowl. Maybe the city was just plain mean to everyone.
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Post by Leonia Walters on Sept 28, 2011 21:09:58 GMT -5
Why didn't Leonia just stay home with her brother? Or at least leave with him instead of going off on her own. Yet, she had the feeling that the two would still be stuck in the same situation Leonia was in now, but at least, they would be together and Leonia wouldn't feel as lonely.
Sniffing a bit, she stopped crying and picked her head a bit. Her eyes went from person to person, observing them as they walked by. One of them looked a bit odd, so it made her quietly laugh to herself. It was peculiar how people watching made her feel a little better, but it worked for a few moments.
Leonia realized after a few seconds that a woman sat next to her and actually spoke to her. "U-Uh... Hello." |
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Sept 28, 2011 21:57:28 GMT -5
Chiara became slightly angrier, seeing the trails of tears down the girl's face. She was what- sixteen? To her, sixteen was too young to be sitting on some crappy park bench crying alone. Especially alone in a city. It could be risky for Chiara to wander the streets by herself, never mind this kid.
Her surpressed maternal insticts kicked in, and she pulled a tissue from her purse. "Here."
She knew she was not particularly friendly, and she never tried to be, but the least she could do was be somewhat polite. After handing the tissue to her, Chiara relapsed into her thoughts, musing on the ways she could get a "real job", as well as stay in the mafia. Most of her plans involved killing the people who already denied her work. "Being a female immigrant sucks sometimes," she grumbled.
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Post by Leonia Walters on Sept 29, 2011 19:54:45 GMT -5
Having another person sit next to her made Leonia feel not as alone as she did before. The woman didn't even have to talk to her and the girl would still not so lonesome. Taking the tissue, she mumbled, "Thank you". Leonia dried her tears and wiped her nose to diminish the fact that she became so upset.
She crumpled the tissue up and stared at it, as if she were in deep thought. However, Leonia's mind was completely blank; she had no thought whatsoever. Yet, she answered the woman, "Yeah. It does". Did the other know that she wasn't American? Perhaps it was the fact Leonia still had her Australian accent.
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Sept 29, 2011 20:43:06 GMT -5
Chiara's head snapped to the side, looking to the other girl curiously. Out of reflex, she asked;"You're an immigrant too?"
Chiara's English was shaky at best, and she had trouble picking out accents. Her Spanish was very good, and her Italian was flawless, as it should be, but there was something about English. For all she could tell, the girl had been born and raised in New York City.
Knowing the other girl was also from a foreign land gave her a sense of companionship. The warmth of a possible friendship made Chiara uncomfortable, especially when she was talking to a kid. She turned slightly away, thinking she understood the girl's problem and worrying less. She would get over homesickness. Eventually.
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Post by Leonia Walters on Sept 29, 2011 21:02:35 GMT -5
Leonia tilted her head out of curiosity when the woman seemed a bit more interested than she was before. "Oh yeah. I'm from Australia, but I lived up north from here for a little bit..."
The girl smiled a bit, "I can tell you're not from around here. Your accent... it's uh.. hm. Is it Spanish? No, no.. that can't be right", she thought of the Mediterranean countries and pictured a map in her head, "Italian! You're Italian, right?"
She wondered what it was like in Italy; if it was anything like Australia. Honestly, these were the times Leonia truly wanted to be home in Australia. |
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Sept 29, 2011 21:37:30 GMT -5
Australia? Where the hell was that? It didn't sound European, and Chiara didn't know about the world outside Europe and New York City.
She was impressed that the girl could recognize what country she was from. The fact that she knew she was Italian calmed her down a bit from the Spanish remark. She was more-than-slightly nationalist, and was firmly Italian. No matter what countries she spent the majority of her lifetime.
With a fist slightly clenched, she replied, "Yes, I am Italian. But, I lived for a few years in Spain." She decided she would be less likely to want to kick someone's ass if the subject was changed. "Where is Australia?"
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Post by Leonia Walters on Sept 30, 2011 23:42:45 GMT -5
Leonia wondered what the Mediterranean countries were like to live in. She barely remembered reading much about them in school so she drew a blank as she thought about them. However, it was good that she at least remembered the countries, so the girl took pride in the fact that she recognized herself as not being a total idiot.
The woman didn't know where Australia was? Leonia wasn't that surprised; it wasn't like Australia came up in a daily conversation. Yet, most people questioned her accent so it really was in a daily conversation for Leonia. "Well, you see... Australia is reeaaally far away from here. It's on the other side of the world! And...", she knitted her eyebrows, "And it's really hot there."
"Oh! Before I forget.. What's your name? Mine is Leonia." |
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Sept 30, 2011 23:51:04 GMT -5
"Far away and hot"? That sounded a bit like Italy. It didn't help her understand what the country was like, though. Chiara nodded, as though she understood.
But... now the girl wanted fairly personal information. Information Chiara didn't enjoy giving out. It was a bit of a trust issue, and also the fact that she put her name on documents. Traceable documents. It was always better that she didn't tell people her full name, just in case.
"Call me 'Romana', Leonia," she replied, slightly guarded. She wondered for a moment if "Leonia" was an alias, but decided quickly the girl was innocent. Still... better safe than sorry.
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Post by Leonia Walters on Oct 1, 2011 10:41:47 GMT -5
"Yeah, well, at least what I remember." She bit her lip as she tried to recall her life in Australia. It seemed like she always wanted to go back there, yet, she was having quite a bit of trouble remembering what it was like there.
Leonia smiled, "That's a really pretty name!" The girl was a bit jealous; if anyone decided to call Leonia by a nickname, it was usually Leon or Leo, which sounded like boys' names. Her feminism would always crawl out whenever someone called her those and it often led her into arguments. Yet, it seemed like she allowed people she liked to call her those.
"Romana, can you tell me what Italy is like?" The girl had a bit of curousity when it came to other places and people of different cultures. Oftentimes, the art of a culture sparked her interest quite a bit. |
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Oct 1, 2011 20:43:42 GMT -5
"Leonia is a very... nice name too," Chiara replied awkwardly. She';d never been very good at receiving compliments, and was even worse at replying to them. She didn't think Romana was very pretty- literally, "Girl from Rome"- but she supposed it was just a matter of opinion. She though Leonia was a much nicer name. Nia would be a very cute nickname.
She sighed at the next question... How could she describe Italy? She sat quietly for a long time, longer than most people would find socially acceptable, to try to find a way to describe her homeland. Finally, with a very rare smile, she mumbled,"Italy is also far away and hot. I moved away when I was very young... But what I remember is hot sun, good food and smiling faces. The language is beautiful too. Not harsh like English. A language you could fall in love with. Capisce?"
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Post by Leonia Walters on Oct 2, 2011 20:56:43 GMT -5
Leonia smiled, "Thank you". She certainly did not agree with Romana, but she took the compliment anyway; there was no sense arguing or fishing for more compliments.
The girl was a bit jealous. Italy sounded like a nicer place than Australia. Then again, pretty much anywhere sounded a lot better than Australia. Yet, Leonia still loved her native country. "It sounds like a really nice place!"
"Capisce", Leonia repeated, trying to say it correctly despite she had an Australian accent, which made it sound odd. "That's... That's an Italian word, right?", she laughed, "Looks like my accent is butchering your beautiful language so I think I'll stop". |
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Post by Chiara "Romana" Vargas on Oct 2, 2011 21:13:35 GMT -5
"It's an Italian word, asking if you understand," Chiara replied. "And you're right about your accent. You sound like you speak English."
Which, of course, Leonia did. But her accent was incredibly thick, making it sound like a different word. Chiara was a bit too lazy to teach her the correct Italian pronunciation.
Thinking about her homeland made her homesick. The sky in New York City just wasn't right. There was electricity that overpowered the stars at night, and all the automobiles ruined the air and sky during the day. Despite that, the busyness, and action and the violence had captured her heart.
Not knowing how well the question would go, she decided to ask; "Why did you leave Australia? It doesn't sound bad."
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Post by Leonia Walters on Oct 2, 2011 21:38:14 GMT -5
Leonia frowned for a minute, taking in what Romana said, but then she let out a laugh. "Even when I'm here, in a place where almost everyone speaks English, my accent still sticks out like a sore thumb. Oh well!"
Romana's question had Leonia taken aback for a second. No one had asked her anything about her life before she came to New York City. She thought about it for a minute, wondering if she should just lie and come up with something on the spot. However, Leonia wasn't really that much of a liar, so she decided to tell the truth to Romana, even though it felt like she were dumping her problems on the woman.
"Well, after my mom died... My dad decided to take a job up north from here. And.. some of the girls in Australia weren't that nice. If it were up to me, we would've just moved to a new town... But, I can't change the past, can I?"
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