The Inkling Volume 1

Hometown- Chap
It was the kind of afternoon where the city I was walking through loo
Amsterdam became a mirage. Water fell from the sky not in droplets, or
my shoulders as the red dye seeped into the shoulders of my dress. I lo
Fumbling with the zip of my coat, I hurried into the first cafe I passed.
of guffawing young men, shouting in Dutch between mouthfuls of the e
thought.
“Can I help you, madam? You wish to try some?”
The man facing now facing me straightened his name badge and pulled
I often wonder what it is about me that screams ‘I’m not local!’. Despit
in Dutch. To be fair, I still can’t speak the language, but it would be nice
Surveying my outfit through new eyes, I began to understand. My sunsh
read ‘Keep Calm and Drink Tea’, and on my backpack was a patch of a
I promise I’m not as English as I probably sound. The badge and the pat
years ago from Australia and are to this day obsessed with the British s
Figuring I didn’t have anything better to do, I nodded to the man now
chair. I was about to pick up the little paper menu when some all-too fam
and all the other customers in the room carried on eating, I felt myself f
Without having to find a mirror, I knew that my face was scarlet. I felt m
way to stop it. ‘Breathe, it’s just another pop song,’ I told myself, but I w
ignoring the turning heads, and thrust open the wooden door.
What a picture I must have looked: stood alone, crying and gasping for
pop song.
Walking alone in the Jordaan has become a bit of a habit for me. Whene
boutiques, the tiny museums. There’s something endlessly reassuring
when I have to venture into the tourist-hub city-centre. Here, I can pre
their golden brown ringlets flying out behind like a halo them as they pe
yellow bicycle that has a pile of old books and pink flowers piled up in th
“Bloem, juffrouw?”
I do a double take and stare at the young woman beaming at me.
pondering anything too deeply, I take the sunflower she is offering, smil
It’s only when I finally reach my flat that I manage to put myself back to
shower, but once everything is sorted it’s nice to feel like less of a mes
time to put the sunflower in a vase. But when I pick up the plant, a tiny p
All that’s written on it is the number twenty four.