A Casual Quip Between Friends

   As our plane descended, the dense forest developed texture, like a warm bumpy green knitted sweater.  Beside me, Virgil gripped his leather-bound journal hard, leaving indentations and most likely fingerprints.  
   "Virgil," I said.  "We've flown to the Amazon countless times--"
   "I know!" His voice carried over a three row radius.  "Don't tell me to get a grip.  Or so help me, Kris!"
   I turned to hide my grin.

The Past is Full of Pandemon-idiom

   A stick-in-the-mud met a behind the times man at a hole in the wall.  She would never dress to kill, and he had a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp.
   After one look, she pegged him as another fuddy-duddy.  In half the time, he pinned her as a halfwit.
   As a friend of both, I can say, yes.  They're a pain in the butt.

Parted and Precious

   My grandfather waited twenty years to open a bottle of vintage port that my grandmother had given him as a surprise.
   Tonight would be their fortieth anniversary, and he sat in vigil beside it, lighting a candle.  His hands shook, but his eyes were steady.
   It took years for grandpa and grandma to find one another.
   And in a way, they were both still as distant as the stars.

My Childhood Ideal

   A pink ballerina ornament hanging from the Christmas tree twirled to musical bells and chimes.  She spun round and round in a slow, rhythmic circle.  Her toes bent to a perfect point and her gracefully lifted arms never flinched in fatigue.  Through all of her pain, she managed to look beautiful.
   Looking beautiful was all that mattered--all that was valued.
   She was an ornament.
   She was a woman.

Paradise Island: Part 2

   Weeks later, bags packed, Bryan and Elexis arrived at the airport to take them to the Grand Cayman Island, and they were both quiet.  They had had a fight the night before.  A couple's fight--over nothing in particular, but it feels like a volcano all the same.
   They didn't speak to one another much during the plane ride.  But when the plane landed and they looked at the rolling waves and sunshine, they both couldn't keep the smiles off their faces.
   Two days later, Elexis and Bryan were laying on the beach after a morning of lovemaking, and a volleyball rolled between them.
   "Sorry!" said a warm, male voice, thick with a slavic accent.  "It's my first time."  He was young, built, and he had a hint of stubble that suited him.  "I'm still learning the game."
   Elexis couldn't breathe.
   Bryan waved, "No worries.  Have fun."
   The man with a velvet voice faced Elexis, "Would you like to join?"
   Elexis flushed with heat.
   Bryan answered for her.  "No, thanks.  We're taking it easy."
   A few days later, Elexis couldn't stand going to the beach anymore.  There were too many men.  Too much temptation.  She told Bryan that the sun was getting to her, and thought it would be better if they stayed inside during the heat of the day. 
   When they walked together along the beach in the morning and the evening, there were fewer men running around shirtless, half-naked.
   It was what Elexis needed.  Otherwise, she would drown herself with men and tequila.
   She and Bryan spent a couple nights in loud, crowded clubs.  Bryan waited at their table, dutifully guarding her purse, while Elexis lost herself in the thrum of the dance floor.
   On the last night of their vacation, Bryan ordered champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.  While Elexis was in the shower, Bryan lit a few candles and transformed their breakfast nook into a romantic oasis.  On the table, a small box sat in the middle as the center piece.  It was the reason for this trip, and it embodied the core of his love.
   When Elexis walked in, fresh from her shower, she gave a shout, then tears burst from her eyes.
   Bryan smiled and shed tears of happiness.
   Elexis cried as her heart dropped from her chest and filled with dread.
   She had to tell him now.
   She had to tell him about the other men.  And pray to God that he could forgive her.

Paradise Island: Part 1

   A slender man with average height, dark skin, and light brown eyes put his wallet back into his loose fitting jeans.  He wore a red T-shirt and steel-toed boots.
   He was not at all the type of man that Elexis would be interested in.  She tried not to look away from Bryan, her boyfriend of two years.  He was the perfect partner for her.  Solid, dependable, loving, well dressed.  Bryan made life less scary.
   But the man in steel-toed boots putting his wallet away, he scared her.  Nothing about him screamed evil-ax-murderer.  But he made her sit taller in her seat.
   Elexis would glance over and see him alone at his table.  She was careful not to stare too long.  If she did and Bryan noticed, she would pinch her arm as punishment.  She loved Bryan.  She didn't understand why she kept looking at the other man, but she couldn't help herself. 
   Gnawing on the inside of her lower lip, she watched the waitress wish the man a good night.  She told herself that it was a good thing that the man was leaving.  Then she would probably never see him again, and she wouldn't have to feel as if she were cheating on Bryan, the man she truly loved, adored, and cherished.  
   Elexis sighed.
   When the mystery man walked out of the restaurant, Bryan had been talking about work and had asked a question.
   Elexis shook herself, "What?  I'm sorry, darling.  I was somewhere else for a second."  Somewhere with a man who made her nervous.
   Bryan looked down at his laced hands on the table; he was thinking.  "You seem to do that a lot recently.  I'm not boring you am I?"
   "What?!  No! No, no, I'm sorry.  Really, Bryan, I just had a long day too and my concentration is shot."
   His eyebrows lifted the worry from his face, "Oh!  Well, what happened?  Tell me about it."
   Elexis shifted in her seat, "Oh, it was just another crazy day.  Juggling personalities and all.  Nothing special."
   "Oh."  The worry, which once was gone, turned around and settled back onto Bryan's brow.  "Well, it must have bothered you quite a bit.  I'm sorry for that."  He paused a moment.  "So, like I was saying, I thought we could go away for awhile.  On a trip.  To get away from work and spend more time...just the two of us..."
   Elexis gave herself another pinch for having such terrible thoughts about another man when she had her own prince charming right in front of her.  "Of course!  That sounds like a wonderful idea.  Where should we go?"
   "I thought maybe an island somewhere.  I know you love the beach, and it would be fun--carefree.  We could build sandcastles and swim with dolphins."
   Bryan told Elexis to buy herself a new swimsuit.  He would take care of the rest.

Anomaly

   Love is a terrible thing.  Falling in love is a shot in the dark and a rolling of the dice.
   Anger is a miraculous experience.  Releasing pent up anger is euphoric and beneficial for the body.
   When you think on your feet and walk on your hands, the world is upside down.  But when the world is right side up, it isn't so hard to see how this happens.

Robin, Earl of a Grand Estate

   As the evening darkened, we approached the stone fortress on horseback.  Our heads hung low while hunger tore at our stomachs.  And our horses, breathing puffs of mist, quivered and shifted their weight.  The ground below us was white with flecks of brown and wet from melting snow.  

   "We've arrived," I said, nearly falling to the ground.  For days I have had no hope that we would survive.  We have braved many battles together, but none had truly frightened me as this one had.  

   Beside me, Robin lifted her mouth in a half-smile, "Indeed, John.  Indeed."

   We were back.  Home from the crusades.  

   Robin yelped her mare into a gallop, and raised her bow in salute to God and her home, and I followed in her stead.  Robin's hair had grown to her chin in our travels, and it flew behind her.  Years ago, her hair had been long and wild like the mane on her mare.

   I could finally glimpse a piece of my young mistress again.  Not the skilled marksman pretending to be Robert, Earl of a grand estate.  

   Before the crusades tore our land apart and shattered peace for the kingdom, my mistress's name had been Rosamond, rose of the world.  But now, war has changed her.  War changes us all.

   Rosamond is nothing but a wilting flower.  

   Robin is strong, sure, and true, yet plagued by evil and haunted by death.  The childish light and trill of Rosamond's eyes and laughter will likely never be seen or heard again.  She has killed for her King, and that alone will mark her as Robin--and not Rosamond--for the rest of her life.  

   "Come, John!"  Robin shouted over the pounding hooves.  "We're home!"

   Again a glimpse of my young mistress--a look of happiness.  It is fleeting. We have come to know that happiness is ever fleeting.