Semi-Daily Scribbles

Come back to your kitchen table where the window looks out over barrel cactus and car parts. Find the lost legal pad and tie it to your wrist. Don't forget it was you who walked away from our unfinished conversation. We were just coming to the part about being creative-on-demand. I'm still waiting for the magic formula you promised. There is one more cup of tea to drink. Stay and regale me with tales of the hidden world; the place only you can see. I'll stand barefoot all day in the hot sand if you'll say those phrases that made me swoon. Yellow words with blue meanings. I became unhinged after hearing a rose will answer to any name.

"The point is to help. That's it. To help each other walk through the valley of mishap with one's head held high." Claire paused to tear a hunk off the baguette before handing it back to Bernadette. "Everything else complicates the one job you've been sent here to do." Bernadette plucked tufts of white bread from the jagged crust. She rolled the crumbs between her thumb and forefinger before popping the ball into her mouth. Between Bernadette and Claire, chewing ensued for several seconds.

"You know, Claire, I help. I help a lot, and the way I see it, it's you who gets the majority of my help. I'm thinking I need to spread all my effort around some." Bernadette resumed her bread rolling. Claire coughed up her own little lump of dough.

"Come again? I'm not so sure in what spirit I should accept your comment." Claire fussed with the cold cuts in their butcher paper, straightening the stack of mortadella until the slices conformed to her will. Bernadette scooted away, straight off the red flannel blanket onto the dew-specked clover, as Claire swiped at the baguette. She was packing up the picnic.

"Hey, don't get mad. Let's both calm down and look for the magic in the moment, as you like to say." Bernadette felt the moistness of the turf through her skirt, but remained seated in the clover with the bread held against her breasts. "You are my best friend, after all."

"Then why are you being mean? Oh, get back on the blanket before you ruin your clothes."

"Not mean, just…helpful." Bernadette repositioned herself on the flannel, holding the baguette out in front of her as a peace offering. Claire sighed and her shoulders slumped as she took the bread and tucked it in the hamper. Bernadette brushed away hair from her face and smiled. "I think you hold your head too high when you go walking through those valleys of yours. Try keeping your eyes on the road. Not every mishap is a bad thing. You know, a lesson in disguise."

"In disguise? Lessons are fine, but you know I don't like things to look different from what they really are. Does life have to now be a guessing game?"

"Can you set the food back out so we can eat? I can't even begin to answer that on an empty stomach."