The Snowblower Bandit And Other Stories

Scrap

 "I was going to break up with you."

"What?!"

I started the morning feeling amazing. It was in the 50's, and predicted to be in the 70's later in the day. That damp earth smell and the promise of warm air made everything feel like spring as I wandered the big yard waiting for the morning haze to be shooed away by the morning sun. I could sense possibilities staring back at me from the future.

I declared on Twitter that today I simply had to have an adventure or I was going to pop! One friend almost immediately joked that she was preemptively clearing time in her schedule to read the inevitable story. I remember I laughed about that.

I honestly didn't expect a big adventure. I mean, it's still the time of COVID. Taking a long walk and enjoying a beautiful day would be more than enough to make me happy.

CeeCee and I set off around a secluded, but familiar path that leads around a local lake. People often ride horses around it. Others go jogging or biking there. Today, though, despite the amazing weather, we were alone as we held hands, smiling and walking. We debated if we should buy some of the cheap pumpkins people were selling to deer hunters. You know, the ones that didn't get sold before Halloween. We could make more pumpkin seeds and carve some pumpkins just for fun! Oh, and make more pies, bread, and muffins than any family could ever eat. The neighbors appreciate it.

We wound through one of the back trails that almost never gets traffic, and without discussing it, wandered off the path and entered a large grassy field. It sloped up to some bluffs that we probably could have climbed, but decided not to. Instead, we sat down in the field and enjoyed the view. From where we were we could nearly see the entire lake that the trail circumscribed. I remember we playfully argued about the bird we saw in the water.

"It's a duck," CeeCee asserted.

"No way. It's a loon. I heard it earlier."

The sun was deliciously warm after the cold weather we'd been having. We had decided to take off our shirts and were lying on them. Possibilities weren't just staring at me now, they were grinning. Topless sunbathing with a beautiful girl can only end well.

"Maybe it's one of those ducks that imitates other birds."

"They don't make ducks like that."

"They don't make ducks like that," she mocked me. "And how would you know? Your specialty is plants, not animals, remember?"

She poked me playfully in the ribs.

"I know more than you."

I poked her back, and a short tickle fight ensued, which inevitably gave way to kissing.

* * *

On our way back around the lake we paused to sit on a bench that overlooked the lake. I always wondered why someone put a bench here. It's not particularly scenic, and it's awkwardly positioned on a little chunk of lop-sided earth with bushes and trees crowding it on all sides.

CeeCee had her head on my shoulder, and my head rested against hers. It was so peaceful that I couldn't even bring myself to point out the loon circling just fifty feet away. I breathed in air so clean and comfortable that my lungs felt like my throat feels when I'm really thirsty and I take a long drink of clean, cold water.

"I was going to break up with you."

"What?!"

I couldn't believe what I just heard. My head snapped up. CeeCee was motionless for a moment, then slowly lifted her head off my shoulder. She took my hand and looked me in the eye. When she spoke, her voice was slow and calm. It was the same voice she uses to calm me down whenever I'm upset about something.