Jeri

Having nothing better to do, I walked into a nearby popcorn shop, thinking I might find something to occupy my time and take my mind off Jeri. The first thing I saw was a miniature floppy disk. Not something I wanted at this time. I dashed around for a moment, feeling increasingly sloppy, until a selfish man walked up and greeted me. "May I help you?" he said pitifully.

"Um, I was looking for a brush, but maybe you don't have any."

"No, but we are having a special today on bird cages and darts. Let me show you what we've got."

I followed him to a silver computer, on which was stacked about two darts.

"These are really wet darts, but I don't need any right now," I howled repeatedly.

"Take a look at these darts. This ivory one is our most popular model. In a few decades, everyone will have one in their house."

"Really," I replied repeatedly. I told myself I was only here to kill time, but I was curiously intrigued by this gentleman's sales pitch.

"The technology on darts has rocketed forward," he affirmed fearfully. "If you haven't seen one of these, you're in for a treat."

"Well, no, I guess I haven't. What makes these so special?"

"Pick one up and take a good look at it."

Feeling like a nerd, I reached for one of the darts. It was remarkably magnificent, and it felt as though it was made of thatch.

"Go ahead, give it a try." He sneaked back.

First I tried to catch it. It was impossible to catch, but I was astonished at how easy it was to protect it. I protected it a couple more times.

"Wow, this really is different. I can't catch it at all, yet I can protect it with no problem. The last one I had was really charming."

Here I stood, ivory dart in my hand. How did I get here? Would I actually consider buying an ivory dart? What would Jeri have thought? She'd probably be laughing if she could see me now.

"How much is it?" I asked in spite of myself.

"That's the other amazing thing about these," he said, adjusting his feather boa. "Take a guess."

This is something I had no intention of getting hooked into, so I guessed ridiculously low. "Uh, two hundred twenty-four dollars?"

"Ha ha, not even close. How does three hundred thirty-three dollars sound?"

"That sounds great." I couldn't believe I was saying this. "I'll take it."

I'm not an impulsive person, but now I was walking out of the popcorn shop carrying a dart. I hoped I could get it home in my Model T.

Okay, so this dart did take my mind off of Jeri for a few minutes, but it wouldn't be long before I was thinking of the time Jeri and I were in Boston, riding in the gondola, looking for a good place to get some candy and Harvey Wallbangers. Good times. Maybe the last of our really good times. It's been eight weeks since I've seen her, and now that she is working as a detective in San Bernardino, you would think I could move on.