November 4, 2005
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A slice from today’s efforts:
Maud regarded Val with
justifiable suspicion. “What do you mean, it’s all
arranged? How could it be arranged? This was the first I’ve
heard of Claude Whatisname.” She took a spoon and began to fill
the indentations in the sugar-dusted cookies with the chocolate.
Val started to reach for one but prudently decided her aunt’s mood was
uncertain enough she’d better not.
And the really rough water was still ahead. Mentally girding herself for battle, Val plunged into the rapids.
“See, I was talking to Brad the
other day,” she explained, eliciting a snorted “That buttinsky!” from
her aunt. Ignoring the interpolation she forged on. “And he
was telling me about Claude Eldredge, the new associate pastor…how
his wife died several years ago…” Val paused and looked hopefully at
Maud, who resolutely kept filling cookies. “…and he has a
daughter about my age.” (She definitely ignored the muttered “Poor
thing”.)
“Anyway, the more we talked, the
more we thought ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to get them to meet?’, and then
Brad had the most stellar idea….!” Val willingly put the
onus on the absent Brad, continuing, “Y’all can kill two birds with one
stone by taking part in an event to help such a worthy cause.”
Here she stopped, being reluctant to put a foot in the nettle patch
looming ahead of her. This seemed so brilliant when the plan was
hatched; how come it was feeling goofier by the minute? And Aunt
Maud isn’t helping at all, she thought resentfully, watching her
transfer the finished cookies to a tray with exacting care, her
attention almost wholly focused on the task.
Not completely focused, however,
for after a couple of beats Maud finally looked at her niece to prod,
“Worthy cause? Which one?”
Heartened at this show of
interest, albeit slight, Val plowed forward. “It’s the
Heart-to-Heart thing on February 13th, benefiting the Russian adoption
program at the Glad Knees* Adoption Foundation. Are you familiar
with it?” she asked, torn between hoping her aunt was, so she wouldn’t
have to explain, and hoping she wasn’t, to delay the inevitable
explosion. Maud shook her head as, cookies artfully arranged on
the tray, she carefully placed tiny sprigs of rosemary on it.
“Ah. Well, then, it’s a
fund raising event, you know the type of thing.” Maud allowed as
how she knew about fund raisers, and taking a roll of red plastic wrap,
began covering the tray of cookies. “It has a Valentine theme,
naturally.” Val tried to sound casual, but something in her voice
caught her aunt’s attention.
“Valentine? This wouldn’t
be a dance would it? One of those masquerade, Cinderella balls?”
Maud asked suspiciously. She’d be darned if she was going to get
togged out as Sleeping Beauty or some sort of princess and make a fool
of herself.
“No, no, Aunt Maud, nothing like
that. It’s more of a, well, a game show.” Val unconsciously
drew back a bit, keeping a weather eye on the tray of cookies as she
waited for the boom to be lowered. She didn’t have long to wait.
“A game show?” Maud spluttered
incredulously. “One of those tacky ‘Dating Game’ things?
I’d rather have a root canal. I’d rather be audited by the
IRS. I’d rather eat sushi.” Affront exuding from every
pore, she glared at her niece. Her? Maud Griffin?
Lower herself to appearing in public in some sort of game show?
With the apparent goal of catching herself a man?
“Take me now, LORD,” she thought grumpily.===============
Tell you what, were it possible I’d rename the ticker at the top as WriNoMo.
This writing stuff’s hard, and makes my wrist ache.
* Isaiah 66:12: For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse
and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.”
