“Who gets sunburnt in October?” Henrietta says. I try to explain that it’s not October where I am, but that turns into me explaining planetary orbit and length of days and why some planets don’t have seasons and at some point Henrietta throws up her hands at me and shakes her pretty auburn curls and says, “Math, Edgar” and we both laugh. God I miss her. And missing her, I miss Octobers on the Cape and a sunrise that doesn’t require SPF 500. And Hen’s soft curls flowing over my hand as I rub her neck. All this threatens tears. She made me promise no tears. Said she just couldn’t take it if I cried. Said it would be better not to see me. So I jab my hand with a plastic fork out of screen and tell her it’s just the gravity on my joints. She doesn’t press because “math, Edgar. We are sharing vodka on ice. Like we used to when I would spend weekends at the Cape dodging stern looks from a man who still disapproved of space travel and used an honest to goodness telephone. I don’t tell her that it’s early morning where I am and I’ll go to work with liquor on my breath because “math, Edgar.”
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“Who gets sunburnt in October?” Henrietta says. I try to explain that it’s not October where I am, but that turns into me explaining planetary orbit and length of days and why some planets don’t have seasons and at some point Henrietta throws up her hands at me and shakes her pretty auburn curls and says, “Math, Edgar” and we both laugh. God I miss her. And missing her, I miss Octobers on the Cape and a sunrise that doesn’t require SPF 500. And Hen’s soft curls flowing over my hand as I rub her neck. All this threatens tears. She made me promise no tears. Said she just couldn’t take it if I cried. Said it would be better not to see me. So I jab my hand with a plastic fork out of screen and tell her it’s just the gravity on my joints. She doesn’t press because “math, Edgar. We are sharing vodka on ice. Like we used to when I would spend weekends at the Cape dodging stern looks from a man who still disapproved of space travel and used an honest to goodness telephone. I don’t tell her that it’s early morning where I am and I’ll go to work with liquor on my breath because “math, Edgar.”
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