Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Love (04/27/06)
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TITLE: Young At Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kari Franceschil
05/03/06 -
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Ah! Young love,” Toni thought, shaking her head and continuing down the street. She could well remember that phase in her life. Why, it seemed like yesterday, that she had the biggest crush on ….
“Hey watch it, old lady”! a voice shouted as a roller blader swept past her, rudely bumping her an knocking the paper out of her hand , sending it flying through the air. Tony angrily bit her tongue and began to scramble about, trying to locate all the sections of her newspaper among the throng of people.
“Old lady, indeed,!” Toni thought in disgust. As if forty was old. Why, she could run circles around some twenty year olds. Her knees cracked as she bent to retrieve the Home & Garden section. Well, okay, maybe not twenty year olds, but she wasn’t old. Toni slowly straightened up, her bones protesting. Her shoulders sagged and her eyes grew sad. Maybe she was old. She had enough snap, crackle, and pop to be a popular breakfast cereal.
Toni started to walk on, when a man sitting at a café table, reading a Sports section caught her eye. Wait a second, she was still missing her sports section. “Well of all the nerve, “ Toni thought, marching over to the tall man and snatching the paper away.
“How dare you take my paper,” Toni scolded in the tone she reserved for the students making noise in her library. “Haven’t you any decency? Reading my paper, while I’m scrambling to pick up the pieces.’ Toni continued with her outrage, trying to be stern, but the man had the most beautiful blue eyes that she could get lost in, and the steam left her and she sputtered to a stop. The man was looking at her with such a bemused expression, Toni began to get flustered. What was wrong with him, and what in the world was wrong with her?
“Would you like my coffee too?” the man asked, with a low chuckle.
“What?” Toni asked, bewildered.
Just then the wind picked up and something hit her leg. Toni looked down to see a sports section laying at her feet.
“Ah,” the man said following her gaze and his long arms that were connected to some very wide shoulders picked up the paper.
“You don’t mind if I have this do you,” the man asked, laughter in his voice. “I seem to be missing a sports section. It’s imperative I find out the score from last night’s Kings game. I missed it.”
“80-59” Toni blurted out.
“Wow! “She’s pretty, she’s feisty, and she likes the Kings.”
Toni blushed for the first time in years.
“And she blushes.” the man said softly. “ I like a lady that can still blush today.”
He leaned in close.
“You wouldn’t happen to be a Christian by any chance, would you.”
Toni nodded.
The man threw his hands in the air and exclaimed loudly,” Thank you God.”
Toni felt a sensation in her throat and before she could stop it, she began to giggle at his antics.
The man, Archie was his name, invited her to dinner and after arranging a time and place to meet, Toni continued to the library. Her arthritis seemed to have vanished, and she had a spring in her step, a glow on her face, and a warmth in her heart. She turned back to see if the girls were still on the sidewalk and watched them for a moment, giggling and smiling shyly. She felt a connection with them she hadn’t felt in years. She felt young again.
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