WORDS: friend – chocolate – gopher – sneeze – thorn
Godfrey loved, loved, loved chocolate. Not that he would ever, ever, ever tell anyone—especially his closest friendPatrice. No, he could never tell her he spent far too much of his time dreaming about the delicious to the very last teeny tiny morsel. Okay, he was obsessed with it. He could admit that to himself, but not to anyone else. Because, in his mind, everyone considered chocolate loving being a girlish idea. Not a manly man’s.
Maybe agreeing to go trick or treating with Patrice was a mistake. She didn’t want to go alone. She really wanted him to go with her. Didn’t she support him by cheering for him at his little league baseball games, even knowing that he was the worst player there? Which, sadly, he knew, but still was determined to play. How could he have refused? Friends supported friends.
Besides, there was all that potential chocolate dropping into his bag. He’d always in the past years half-heartedly offered to let her take home everything they’d both received. But his sweet bestie had always insisted he take his home. Secretly, he’d done a little mental happy dance with anticipation of filling his tummy with chocolate of so many kinds.
He walked up to Patrice’s front door feeling anxious, worried. Okay, humiliated. What was she going to think of this ridiculous costume his mother had helped him with? What had his mother been thinking? Had the ornery critter that kept invading their backyard fanatically gripped her? But to do this to her beloved son….
Patrice pulled open the door before he could ring the doorbell. She blinked at him; her eyes going wide; tilting her head this way and then that. No doubt she couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing.
He felt his face heating. Of course, his whole body was burning up inside the costume of thick, furry fabric. When she continued to look curiously at him, he did a little half turn so she could see the bushy tail. Maybe that would help her figure out what he was.
It was easy for anyone to recognize that Patrice was a witch, complete with a tall hat, long black dress, and holding a scruffy-looking broom. His costume, though, was puzzling.
He heaved a sigh and admitted, “Mom got a little carried away with this costume. Must have found a great deal on this crazy furry stuff. Her imagination went wild.”
Patrice smiled, amusement dancing in her eyes. “It’s a little different, yes.” She giggled. “But you’re soooo cute. I just want to hug you.”
Godfrey groaned. He’d started seeing her as more than his best friend since preschool. Not quite as a girlfriend yet. They were only in third grade. But maybe in a few more years, maybe ten more years. But he knew she wasn’t seeing him as cute as a good-looking boy. No, as a ridiculous animal! This whole situation was what he’d heard adults refer to as a “thorn in one’s side.”
The wind blew around him, ruffling the too much fur. He sneezed. Disgusted with it all and ready to go in search of a big bag of life-saving chocolate, he blurted, “I’m a gopher. Okay? A gopher.”
She smiled even more and turned back toward the house, yelling, “Mom! Mom, you’ve got to take a picture of this! Godfrey’s a gopher!”
He hung his head, humiliation complete. A picture. He could envision her showing it to him over and over through the years. Probably to their kids one day. If they got that far. Never, ever was he letting his mom help him again with a costume.
