11 AM nearly on the dot. I could swear I heard her door open. And the foot falls on the steps, were Pavlovian to me. My heart began to race, I love the sound of those funny red and green shoes on the concrete steps of our apartment building, it wakes me up like the bubbling fury of my new fangled coffee maker. I heard that sound and anticipated her shining on me like that first main line cup of the cheap Mexican espresso grind I've grown addicted to. Click clack click clak clik clack
For some reason that day I must have been more hypnotized than the others, maybe the sun was particularly intense or maybe I was just ready, because I stood and listened to the foot steps and my eyes began to close, my head fell back a bit and my mouth curved up at each end forming the unmistakable smile of the domestic North American Moron. And when I sensed her presence before me, and I did sense it, I abandoned that smile and my silence, and said the most poignant thing any admirer can say to a woman he's infatuated with from afar.
"Hi"
I must have startled her, my eyes opened, so I could see I had thrown her for a loop. I had disturbed the natural progression of her Sunday ritual, and I feared I may have only incurred her wrath. Stopping she turned and smiled
"Excuse me?- she responded quizzically, with a look on her face that balanced curiosity, confusion and downright fear. And I understood, I must have looked a fool, and as she had, to that point, not been aware that I was capable of audible communication, her obvious assumption of my less than average intelligence was hardly something I could take offense at. So I played it out the way my grampa would have, that's right I asked her where the nearest bathroom was No I kid, my grampa was smooth-
"I said Hi but I'd like to add to that if you don't mind, and ask, How you are?" I shattered my fear in the course of that question and felt my face thankfully relax into a natural grin. Her demeanor delightfully, wonderfully, perfectly mirrored mine. And when she opened her mouth to speak again, she couldn't get the words out before locking her cheeks into the brightest smile I'd ever been privy to. Like a perfect Sunday morning sky, with the blue and white of her eyes holding that sunny smile in it's natural place. I could not help but think, I would stand there for a month of Sundays if she would just let me taste the frames of that smile with my own.
"Well, Hi" she said finally finding her words "I'm great great just, .great"
She stepped closer and I could smell the fresh scent of her linens with the light breeze. Her shoes, her odd shoes, were only inches from my weather beaten Rainbows. This was something. This was something
For some reason that day I must have been more hypnotized than the others, maybe the sun was particularly intense or maybe I was just ready, because I stood and listened to the foot steps and my eyes began to close, my head fell back a bit and my mouth curved up at each end forming the unmistakable smile of the domestic North American Moron. And when I sensed her presence before me, and I did sense it, I abandoned that smile and my silence, and said the most poignant thing any admirer can say to a woman he's infatuated with from afar.
"Hi"
I must have startled her, my eyes opened, so I could see I had thrown her for a loop. I had disturbed the natural progression of her Sunday ritual, and I feared I may have only incurred her wrath. Stopping she turned and smiled
"Excuse me?- she responded quizzically, with a look on her face that balanced curiosity, confusion and downright fear. And I understood, I must have looked a fool, and as she had, to that point, not been aware that I was capable of audible communication, her obvious assumption of my less than average intelligence was hardly something I could take offense at. So I played it out the way my grampa would have, that's right I asked her where the nearest bathroom was No I kid, my grampa was smooth-
"I said Hi but I'd like to add to that if you don't mind, and ask, How you are?" I shattered my fear in the course of that question and felt my face thankfully relax into a natural grin. Her demeanor delightfully, wonderfully, perfectly mirrored mine. And when she opened her mouth to speak again, she couldn't get the words out before locking her cheeks into the brightest smile I'd ever been privy to. Like a perfect Sunday morning sky, with the blue and white of her eyes holding that sunny smile in it's natural place. I could not help but think, I would stand there for a month of Sundays if she would just let me taste the frames of that smile with my own.
"Well, Hi" she said finally finding her words "I'm great great just, .great"
She stepped closer and I could smell the fresh scent of her linens with the light breeze. Her shoes, her odd shoes, were only inches from my weather beaten Rainbows. This was something. This was something
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MT
ps thanks for the compliment on my pic. I intend to load more once I've got my phone figured out
I've been wondering for a while...