a belated birthday story for my friend penny
You may recall my mention of a friend whom I have nicknamed Penny. It was Penny's birthday last week and since she was out of town, I gave her a belated birthday card when we met on Monday night for dinner. Imagine if you will, a photo cut from a magazine advertisement of a Korean businessman wearing a dark suit and maroon tie, sitting on a bench in a park, holding an ivory ice cream cone, thoughtfully looking down at it as he takes a lick. This is his story...
"Yoo-Min stared ruefully at the vanilla soft-serve. The spun cream and sugar concoction wilting in the sun. The cone slowly losing its Styrofoam crispiness from the warmth of his toned, accurate fingers.
His mind wandered to the day he first saw her. She was delivering four dozen French crullers to the receptionist’s desk at his office. The nametag read Penny. On the top right corner, she had carefully drawn an ice cream cone in brown marker. It was her artistry he noticed first. Her auburn hair tied back in a short ponytail. She had a heart-shaped face and riding boot-shaped heart.
Suddenly, his collared shirt grew tight, the room became humid, his heart raced as he tried not to stare. He pretended to shuffle through the documents he was holding; a PennySaver, a report about something and two pages of his name and home address in different fonts, repeated for the purpose of making return address labels with adhesive filing tags. Moments passed until he thought of a witty comment to offer as the receptionist signed the delivery slip.
“Lot of donuts,” he uttered casually.
“They’re actually French crullers,” she smiled, correcting his already plain observation. And with that, she collected her copy of the receipt and cheerfully bounded out the front door like a mentally handicapped boy of 8.
He never saw her again. Yet still, years later, upon the slightest glimpse of the donut’s spiral folds, he would crave ice cream and white women."
Happy Birthday, Penny!
And with that, laminated Streetwise maps for Paris and London in hand, I bid you all adieu for a few days. I'm off to Europe where the men are slender and the women are perverted. Chocolat, here I come!
"Yoo-Min stared ruefully at the vanilla soft-serve. The spun cream and sugar concoction wilting in the sun. The cone slowly losing its Styrofoam crispiness from the warmth of his toned, accurate fingers.
His mind wandered to the day he first saw her. She was delivering four dozen French crullers to the receptionist’s desk at his office. The nametag read Penny. On the top right corner, she had carefully drawn an ice cream cone in brown marker. It was her artistry he noticed first. Her auburn hair tied back in a short ponytail. She had a heart-shaped face and riding boot-shaped heart.
Suddenly, his collared shirt grew tight, the room became humid, his heart raced as he tried not to stare. He pretended to shuffle through the documents he was holding; a PennySaver, a report about something and two pages of his name and home address in different fonts, repeated for the purpose of making return address labels with adhesive filing tags. Moments passed until he thought of a witty comment to offer as the receptionist signed the delivery slip.
“Lot of donuts,” he uttered casually.
“They’re actually French crullers,” she smiled, correcting his already plain observation. And with that, she collected her copy of the receipt and cheerfully bounded out the front door like a mentally handicapped boy of 8.
He never saw her again. Yet still, years later, upon the slightest glimpse of the donut’s spiral folds, he would crave ice cream and white women."
Happy Birthday, Penny!
And with that, laminated Streetwise maps for Paris and London in hand, I bid you all adieu for a few days. I'm off to Europe where the men are slender and the women are perverted. Chocolat, here I come!
posted by Katie at 5:24 PM
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