The Magic of Everyday
LOVELY SELWYN
PROSE
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest
secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will
never find it.”
- Roald Dahl
The girl’s bathroom at your local disco on a Saturday night.
Sticky tiles, cheap perfume, smudged mascara, and the compliments that spill all over each
other are a few of the defining characteristics of the most magical place on earth.
“Hey babe, could I please use a wee lipliner if you’ve got one?” the girl in the leopard print
top asks as you wait in line with Shaina and Artemis.
“I just can’t find mine.”
As you pull out the tried and trusted MAX Factor liner in shade ‘Deep Berry’ and pass it onto
her with a clear gloss, three friends huddle together by the hand driers. The one in the red
leans against the tiles, sporting smudged mascara and a tear-stained face.
“Naw, you were just too good for him Claire,” one of her pals says while the other dabs her
face with a wet paper towel. You watch shamelessly as her two friends exchange some
rendition of, “you were too pretty for him”, “you can do so much better”, or “he didn’t even
deserve you.” You hope these words bring the girl wearing the red dress - Claire - some
comfort but it’s near certain that her friend’s sympathies - as lovely as they may be - will fall
on deaf ears.
At least she's wae her pals and no alone.
Claire is not alone. She has her girls, and she will eventually be okay. Their conversation is
completely drowned out by the retching noises coming from the cubicle on the far left
snapping you out of your train of thought. A toilet flushes, a cubicle door opens, and you,
Shaina and Artemis tumble inside hand in hand. Four walls enclose three girls who are
taking turns as the others adjust bra straps, do up laces and curbie the tops of their hair into
place. After the final flush you pile out, still fidgeting with the strap that feels oh-so flimsy.
“Wait Artemis, can you please pull up my straps?” you ask as Shaina dries her hands under
the hand driers that witnessed the heartbreak of a girl dressed in red mere moments ago.
“Right, I’m going to pull tight so you don’t flash anyone,” she warns before yanking both
strings together. She makes the ends kiss and ties a knot while throwing compliments at the
girl with pink dip-dyed hair who has just walked in.
They straps feel so much more secure
This is so much fun
Wait
what happened to that girl
....Claire?
Hands washed, lips reapplied, and mirror selfies taken you three dash out the bathroom as
soon as the first few beats of ‘Shut up and Dance’ start to blast from the DJ booth.
My favourite song
This is a pure blast
How to get over a broken heart:
1. Call friends
2. Look hot
3. Go out to the club
4. Kiss a stranger
(this doesn’t really work)
I love this song
he’s fit
I could lips him wait
he looks like…
I hope she was alright
Back on the dancefloor, it’s so much easier to get around as a group of three. Holding each
other's hands, the three of you follow Artemis - who manages to make her way to the rest of
the group through a series of elbowing squeezing, shoving and ‘Oh I’m so sorry, I’m just
trying to find my friends’ - through the crowd.
After regrouping with the others, two more cheeky shots are downed as Drake morphed into
Rihanna who later became Kendrick.
she looks pure magic
You watch as your best friend and her boyfriend fit so effortlessly together. They look so happy.
Half singing, half screaming the lyrics at each other, there is just a sparkle in their eyes.
this is stunning
Love is so beautiful. People are so beautiful. Shaina captures their moment together on her
camera.
it’s no fair a really miss him
Shitebag.
my heart hurts
“Girls! Going no move fae here. I'll be back in a sec!”
Making your way through the crowd, alone, you come to the twenty-nine stairs one must
climb before reaching the outside world.
Fuck me
Your seven-inch heels wibble wobble up the flight of stairs and you pass the security guard
who directs you to the smoking area with a concerned look paired with a pitying smile.
Cheeks sting, eyes blur and heart aches.
He just got me.
“I understand what you mean.”
“Yes.”
“I can see it from your perspective.”
“I’m sorry.”
That was who he was
he always tried.
A still want him back. We could have made it work
but a don’t want to do
long distance. Eighteen is pure young
I fucking hate Edinburgh airport.
4am at Edinburgh airport on the 20th of April
“You’re my best friend Adam.”
“Valie...”
His eyes start to glisten. You look into his eyes for one more second, squeeze his hand, turn
and leave.
He wasnae there
A went back.
went back up they stairs cause that was a pure shite
Ending.
A just didn’t want to see him greet
He wasnae there
He was gone.
You light a cigarette.
A need my mum
Naw
A need Ms Mckee
She could make me alright.
Flicking through the contacts on WhatsApp you search her name and click on the chat.
She’ll know how to make it okay.
“Hi Ms MckEE,
I hoope my name still rings a bell. How are you? I’ve thought of you so often but didin’t
know if it was appropriate to shoot a text. I’m away to study abroad in Australiaia in to
weeks. I would love to hear about your time in Australia Would I be able to catch upi before I
leae?
I've also had my heartbroken...I just. eed someo e oloder and wiser to reassure me that it will
be okay.
Valerie x”
delivered 11:02pm
“Oh Val! How lovely to see your name in my inbox! It is always appropriate to shoot a text!
Please don’t ever question that. I would love, love, love, to see you before you leave. Just tell
me when and where and we can catch up. So delighted to hear of your upcoming adventures.
S.x
PS. I’m so sorry to hear of your heartbreak, it’s the very worst feeling but perhaps a rite of
passage? Your heart has to break at least once so you know it works properly. But I promise
all the pain will subside – sooner than you think- in the interim, make sure you’re looking
after yourself really, really well. X”
delivered: 11:11pm
Ms Mckee was right.
One day not too far from now you will find yourself taking a ferry back to the city. Half a
world away from home.
What a stunning city
The entirety of Sydney will sparkle before your eyes as you pull into the Quay.
A miss Shaina
A miss Artemis
If only they could see this wae me anol...
Ms Mckee was pure right.
This acho does look like sumfin oot a film.
Sydney sparkles.
This will work out fur me
On ma soul this will work out
...oh Adam
A hope he is doing alright.
A thought that once broke your heart will now only fill it with a still sweet sadness.
A still love him
...just a wee bit though it’s no like what a felt before.
what we had was nice
It was sound
but
a want so much mere fur me and ma life
A huv an Oscar tae win. Red carpets tae walk. Films tae be in...
It will work out.
Always believe in that magic.
In the magic that gives you the reassurance that the universe is always conspiring on your behalf.
The kind that intertwines itself into every day. The one that is found in the way a stranger on
the metro gives up their seat for someone else. The magic of Ms McKees – the teachers that
believed in their students more than anyone else did. The magic of having friends that just get
it. The ones who clap so loud for you that you forget who didn’t. That is the magic of Shainas
and Artemises.
Never forget the magic of young love. Cling to the magic of what was and the magic of what
will be. It will be okay. The pain will subside sooner than you think, and you will get over it.
That’s the magic of life – you always get over it.
Look for the magic in strangers. Smile, laugh, share lipliners, cheap perfume and kisses. The
magic of acting as we suspend our disbelief in the theatre. In the way actors shift from one
person to another becoming a canvas for stories that aren’t their own. Find magical sparkles
in the way our heart breaks for the characters on stage. In the way we feel their pain, their
love and their joy. Magic is the way we care for each other.
It’s everywhere really.
It’s in your sister who wants to be a mermaid when she grows up.
In the old man at the pub who still tries to crack a terrible joke while waiting on his pie and
tatties.
It’s in your passions, hopes, fears and aspirations.
In the dream planted in your heart and the belief that you will make it.
It’s in those who use their voice to speak up for the silenced, in protests, and rebellion.
It’s in the night sky, streetlights and skyscrapers.
Watch the world with glittering eyes.
Believe in magic and you will find it.
Hailing from Glasgow but laced with Tamil heritage, Lovely Selwyn is an avid storyteller. She hopes that her writing encourages people to look for magic in everday as the sparkliest people are tthose who practice gratitude and romantise the little things in life!
