One-third -- Melons

The store advertised it had the BEST DARN MELONS to be found ANYWHERE! 

he bit he loved melons  he hadnt had a good one in some time

                                                                                                       although to be fair

he was thrown

                 since when did Marketing hobble itself with propriety  BEST DARN

Comon wouldnt they let it rip

                                  BEST DAMN MELONS to be found ANYWHERE!

as it was he would have to drive nearly thirty miles out of his way to appease his nieces

who apparently were suckers more than himself for the best darn melons anywhere

little slaves to advertising

they saw it on the back page of the newspaper he hadnt gotten around to yet as he read to their jaws chomping at their cold breakfast cereal and the clattering of their spoons at their bowls

sometimes that noise got the best of people

 

but growing in a household of eleven one put such noises out of their heads

banishing them to a pile culled at the distant horizon named

                                                                 Utterly Insignificant

You hear what you want to hear thats how clever he was

their harmonized shriek however gathered up his attention all at once 

he folded the newspaper in half backwards towards them

a trick he thought was necessary to growing up because his father relentlessly and impatiently did it to him his What now? he refused to bring forward as all children make mental notes as they grow up affirm in their deepest darkest recesses all those things they not only resented

but detested
the tinkering that was their right as adults and when exhibited before their parents and not questioned by their parents but rather accused

                    Thats not how you were raised

allowed you to fire back without even bothering to look up at them not bothering to fold a newspaper in half to eye with ridicule

          Youre right  It wasnt

-- Grrls

What

he called them grrls because the grr suited his purpose

                                                          he treated them as if they were sexless

time was plenty before the tyranny of pedagogy marketing and all the worthless friends they would have to endure  before setting them aside in favor of the few exceptional friends   later

-- MELONS! was their chorus

their topknots still crazy from sleep and now slipping oddly over their ears and in their faces like loose lopsided caps

When the hell did they learn to read

Yeah maybe the oldest but why was the youngest also touting MELONS!

to be fair hed admit it they had evolved vocabularies most children the grrls knew didnt know what they were talking about

he remembered taking the eldest for a walk when she was little

they headed up into a boxed canyon off Malibu and took in the queer-looking California houses which seemed to grow organically  --  or not  --  inside the steep walls at either side of the alley

really couldnt call it a road and carved or relieved into the hillsides were backyard switch-backs that lead up to stone Buddhas delicious art forms and artefact

walking hand-in-hand she asked what kind of tree it was that overhung the alley

enthralled he was looking to the right

she to the left

he said loquat

she said no persimmon I think

What

he then looked down into her face and found she was pointing high to the left  

Really What kind of two-plus kid knows what a persimmon is

he didnt know persimmons or loquats even existed until his Twenties when he finally escaped his nee clutches of the Midwest

I think youre wrong oncle and what was with that business thats a loquat she said pointing up to the right where he had been looking

  

Youre right little grrl

 

Thank you  I thought I was

MELONS!

he flipped the newspaper and laid eyes on a truly splendid advertisement

melons were everywhere that could be artfully and skillfully included among its brief text and alluring fonts

 

it seemed to him

                   he ought to be screaming like they were

they looked absolutely delectable

-- CAN WE GO?

-- Can we go

What kind of oncle do you take me for

-- YEEAAHH

-- Did you two have a fitful night

or dream of playing rolling down grassy hills 

or being chased by monsters  he asked
as their heading out the door was effectively curtailed by smart snarls and tangles woven in their hair
   

he knew they had sensitive scalps and was gently working them out with their hairbrushes

-- No the eldest answered for them while she tried hard fitfully to remain patient
 

her hair was already unpleated while the little one tried to decide what she was going to wear for the day despite the few things that were packed for their overnight with him

the little one squirmed in his lap uttering scarcely discernable Ouch  ouch     ouches

-- No bad dreams  Good

Fun dreams

-- I dont know We were asleep

-- Me

I dreamt of tying knots all night long

I really liked doing it because somebody else was going to have to untie them

Ouch  ouch     ouches

-- You did not

-- I did

-- Did not

-- Did

-- Youdidnot oncle

-- No

I didnt

But I wish I did

Ouch  ouch     ouches

late evening before bed,  Saturday,  21  2. 15

1833,  Monday,  23  2. 15