Flashbacks for 2004

January, 2004

Next on Beverly Hills 24601

Who will take Cosette to the big party? It’s either Valjean or Javert!

February 2004

Menage a Trois

Me, my beloved, and the man in the moon.

March 2004

My Precious

I caught him, and I wouldn’t let him go unless he gave me gold. Ah, a Spring wedding!

April 2004

Windfall

How did so small a kitten get into a tree? Where did it come from? It fell out at my feet, and I have no answer except, “It’s mine.”

May 2004

Waiting Room

He laughed when I moved so he could sit with his wife. “After 48 years, we can stand to be separated.”

He sat and pressed her thin hand.

June 2004

Instant Civilization

I met him in a bar in Washington, D.C.

“The only thing civilization ever does instantly is crumble,” he said, and ordered another.

July 2004

The Knack

“Bring me something for this gas. Don’t you know how to cook wild mushrooms?”

“Yes. I know how to tell the good ones from the deadly ones, too.”

August 2004

The Honey Peace

Danger can soothe a turbulent spirit. Sky-divers know this. So do I, at ease in a buzzing meadow, my bee-sting antidote half an hour away.

September 2004

Erosion

“Happy?”

“Awfully! You?”

“Dreadfully!”

Years pass. Now only the adverbs remain.

October 2004

Match

Leaves flutter down — red, orange, yellow — spangled with dew, glittering in the light from the burning house. Flames flutter up — red, orange, yellow.

November 2004

The Pot Thickens

The TV movie was long, with lots of characters and a complex story. She was proud of how well she followed it. Then she realized it was the news channel….

December 2004