The Awful Truth
by Bill Tope
Gwen flashed a
winning smile and
Coyly fluttered her long, beautiful
Eyelashes. But this garnered no
Response from the young man
Seated alone at a table across
The room.
As serious as Solon, he remained
Intent on whatever endeavor he was
Pursuing, and paid not the slightest
Attention to the lovely Gwen.
She remembered telling Maggie that
She'd have him "eating out of my
hand,
Like an animal at a petting zoo,”
Within minutes of catching his eye. But
So far she was yet to catch his eye.
With this she had been preoccupied
For the last ten minutes. She
sighed.
Desperate circumstances demanded
Desperate measures.
"Bobby--she pronounced it 'Bubby'--
Do you wanna be my boyfriend?" she
Purred softly, watching his face closely
For any change of expression.
Bobby raised his head from his book
And regarded her cooly. "Don't
want no
Girlfriend," he said shortly.
Gwen blinked.
"You don't?" she asked.
"Nope," he
Replied, With a note of finality. He
closed
The Volume he had been devouring, with a
Loud snap. "But, why ever not?"
pressed Gwen,
Taking a step nearer. "Don't you
think I'm
Pretty?" She levied a smile
that had all the
Golden radiance of the sun.
He narrowed his eyes at her before
Telling her, "You're all right...I
guess."
"You guess?" Her eyes
flashed with
Instant hatred. "Now,
don't get mad,"
Coaxed Bobby; “it's just that I’ve
got
Things to do--before I get too old."
"Like what, for example?"
demanded
Gwen. "Like building bridges,
like the
Ones in this engineering book," and
he
Patted the thick tome he had just
Closed.
"This model here,” he said, his
face
Lighting up like a beacon as he
Indicated a structure on the table
Before him, ”is an exact replica, to
Scale, of a bridge I intend to build
Across the Mississippi, just as soon
As I get my engineering license.”
Gwen huffed her disbelief. “Hah!”
She declared.
"Some people," he went on
sagely,
"Don't want to be told the awful
truth
About things." He waited a
beat. "And
Besides, I like older women.”
He said
The last with an air of wearied
Sophistication.
Enraged, Gwen marched up to where
Bobby was sitting and snapped, “Well,
Here’s some awful truth that maybe
you
Don’t want to hear: “I am older!
I’m exactly five days older than you,
Robert Spencer!”
And with that she swept Bobby’s Lego
Bridge from the table and onto the floor,
Where is landed with a deafening
Clatter. She stomped angrily on the
Pieces of plastic.
“And furthermore,” she shouted,
tapping
The big book with her knuckles, “You
can’t
Even read yet!” She stalked
off. And thus
Was Miss Spellman’s Lincoln School
Kindergarten class thoroughly and
Irreparably disrupted, for an afternoon. |
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