Jennifer Hudson's Boring Little Life

Episode 3: Jennifer Hudson and The Paper Prison

"The sun has set. The entire world is dark and all sane people are watching TV, losing brain cells by the second, all while Jennifer is securely locked up in prison. There is no escape, her only choice is to serve her sentence and rejoin society as a reformed citizen." Jennifer tells. "Yes, Dear reader, we have reached the dramatic peak where it is necessary for me to narrate my own story in third person. How did this happen? Great question! It all started with me having to stay at home because of my fall down the stairs."

***

Earlier that day.

Jennifer is laying in bed. She'd woken up ready for school, but wasn't aloud to go and now it's been half an hour since her family abandoned her at home and went on with their day. She's already board with her forced bed rest. According to the medics, she should stay in bed for a day or two, just until she feels well enough to go to school again, but what do they know? In Jennifer's opinion they're just being over protective, she's fine. The world does still, slightly, spin when she sits up and it does sort of feel like her head was used as a punching bag, but other than that she's fine. What is she supposed to do for an entire day at home?

Jennifer gets up, she has to do something, maybe she can find one of her mother's magazines in the kitchen. The entire world topples beneath her bare feet, but she's too stubborn to let a little shift in gravity stop her. Jennifer leans against the wall and slowly makes her way out of her room, down the flight of stairs and into the kitchen.

Once there, she's completely out of breath and can barely see past her headache. Jennifer flops down onto one of the chairs around the small, square, breakfast table to the one side of their kitchen. Jennifer lays her head down on the wooden table top and closes her eyes, but before long enough she remembers her mission. She slowly sits up and starts searching for a magazine, but finds none. Accepting the failed mission Jennifer decides to move to the sitting room, not wanting to climb a flight of stairs to get to bed, and lay down of the couch until her head stops spinning.

Once there she spots the large cupboard, with all their board games inside, next to the bookshelf and suddenly wonders when their last family games night was.

She takes out her phone and, rather innocently, texts her father. Telling him that they really should have another family games night sometime.

She places her phone on the coffee table and lays down on the couch. Somewhere as her consciousness dwindles she remembers receiving a text back – Great idea, Pip! - and then completely falling asleep. All this without registering the consequences to her actions. Until her father arrived home, woke her up from her deep sleep on the couch and announced that it was family games night!

***

"And that's how Jennifer had ended up in Jail. Through her own doing," Jennifer dramatically looks across the Monopoly board, at her little figure – the shoe – in jail at the other end. Her mother roles the dice and click-clack-click-click moves the hat, loudly across the cardboard surface and lands on one of Jennifer's properties, one with a hotel on top.

She, being the only rule abiding player, doesn't even bargain or hesitate before handing Jennifer the money. At the gesture, Jennifer is suddenly pulled out of her head.

"Stop giving me money!" She bursts. All Jennifer wants is to lose and be excused to bed. Her mother lifts an eyebrow and gives her the money anyway.

So far they've played every game imaginable and this is the last one. She was fine with playing Twister, UNO and all the rest, but this game is pushing her patience too far.