I have always loved reading fictional stories where young women are the main characters. The ones who are a tad whimsical in their own endearing ways, always on their toes, trying to achieve God alone knows what, while also quietly trying to keep their lives together, and romanticise the little ordinary things, with a bit of chaos, of course. And in all this, somehow turning everyday life into moments worth telling stories about.
I have been toying with the idea of writing something like that, too. I have never written fiction before, but I want to try. And so, I would like to introduce you to my first fictional character: The Bespectacled Girl.
She is inspired by parts of my own life, thoughts, habits, quirks, and ideas. But she is also fictional in a lot of ways. I want this series to feel light-hearted, comforting, engaging, and hopefully bring a smile (or maybe even a laugh, if I can manage that!) to your face.
Some incidents may be real, some exaggerated for humour, and some entirely fictitious.
But all of them belong to her, The Bespectacled Girl.
And I cannot imagine a better way of starting this series than with her prized tote bag.
As The Bespectacled Girl says to no one in particular, “My whole life is in my tote bag.” And it truly is.
The tote bag has tried its best to deny this statement, but unfortunately, it is true.
Nobody really understands why she carries so many things in her tote bag, even if she is stepping out for a quick coffee run. Not even she understands it completely. But she HAS to carry it at all times, because well, according to her, “you never know when you might need something!”
Somewhere between the dozen little things lying in her tote bag lies the entire story of who she is.
On most days, her tote bag contains the following, in absolutely no particular order of importance:
- Her precious Kindle, which has long accepted that it spends more time being carried around than being read.
- Earbuds, and a tangled mess of earphones (because “what if the AirPods battery dies?!”)
- Her wallet, with her bunch of keys dangling from it for dear life.
- Multiple pouches, each serving a purpose that made perfect sense when it was created.
- A pocket-sized mirror (apparently, it is a necessity despite carrying a phone with a perfectly functioning selfie camera)
- Two pens and a notebook she rarely uses (but carries around in case inspiration strikes at the most inconvenient moment)
- Two (or three) carry bags folded neatly (for those days when she gets an urge to go shopping even though she stepped out “just for a walk”)
- Crumpled receipts buried deep within the bag, the ink faded and beyond recognition
- Hand wash and a hand towel, courtesy of her slightly dramatic germophobic tendencies
- An emergency stash of medicines, because despite her best efforts at maintaining hygiene, dust mites continue to treat her like a long-lost friend.
- Band-Aids, because she has a remarkable talent for bumping into random furniture and demonstrating Olympic-level slipping skills on perfectly normal floors
It would not be surprising if the contents of her tote bag assembled and formed a support group of their own.
The Kindle would complain about being carried around more often than being read. The notebook would complain about not seeing even a pen scratch on its pages. The carry bags would mentally prepare themselves for a shopping emergency that has never actually occurred. The old receipts would simply sit in silence, wondering what exactly their purpose is.
And somehow, despite all this chaos inside her bag, she manages to find exactly what she needs within seconds.
The Bespectacled Girl treats her tote bag like a magician treats hats.
Hungry? She has a quick snack in her bag. Need a charger? It’s probably in there. Feeling down in the dumps? There’s probably a playlist perfect to perk you up in there, too!
Scientists have yet to explain this phenomenon.
To the world, her tote bag may seem like “too many things.” But to her, they mean comfort.
It is her attempt at keeping life together, even when her mind feels like a dozen browser tabs running simultaneously.
Every once in a while, she attempts to clean out the bag. This activity begins with her knowing that it will get done in no more than five minutes.
Thirty minutes later, she finds herself sitting on the floor, wondering why she has been carrying around a pen with ink dried up since ages, a blank strip of paper which was once a receipt, and an object she has absolutely no memory of putting inside the bag.
And yet, she chooses to go back to the same tote bag every time she steps out.
Because to her, her tote bag is more than just a bag. It is an extension of home.
Of the things that make her feel herself. Of the little things that make her feel confident. Of the things that bring a quiet comfort of having little pieces of her world with her at all times.
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