dontravis.com blog post #298
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| Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
I got 93 page views from Japan in one day on last week’s “Holly and the Gang.” A couple of times a year, I get a thousand or so hits from Israel. I wonder what prompts folks from a particular country or region to decide to look at my blog. They tell me it’s the keywords I attach to my posts, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out the proper ones to use… except for two or three times a year, apparently.
This week we’ll go for a short, short story a little different from last week’s.
*****
MOONPIE DAVIS
MoonPie Davis… that was what everybody called me, even the grownups—including my parents. I think most folks forgot my real name was Monroe. I pretty much lost that moniker at the swimming pool back when I was ten. When I came out of the water, my swimming trunks—an oversized hand-me-down from my older brother—slipped down over my buttocks. Naturally, everybody in town heard I’d mooned half the population, so I became Moon. That morphed into Moonie. Cynthia Swearingen added the p because I think she was sweet on me at the time… not so much now. But the p remained. Now I was Nickeltown’s MoonPie.
Nickeltown was about as far back in the sticks as you could get. Heck, we couldn’t even claim to be a one light town, we didn’t have any traffic lights at all. I can only think of two stop signs inside the berg’s limits. Twenty-seven of us kids graduated from high school this past May. Now it was the final summer before going off to college or hunting down a permanent job, and I found it stressful.
Alfie Summers was my best friend forever. We’d grown up together, gotten in trouble together, jerked off together once, graduated together. He was leaving for school in Texas in a few weeks, and I was going to miss him like crazy.
Wanda Sparks was my girlfriend. We’d also grown up together and graduated together… and I wished we’d jerked off together—or the equivalent thereof. She was heading to New Mexico for her higher education, also in a few weeks.
My life was being rent apart. I was heading for Arkansas to college where I didn’t know a soul and where no one understood me the way these two did. I wasted a week mooning around—what did you expect with a name like MoonPie? That was another thing, I’d have to get used to answering to Monroe again.
As the time to leave for college neared, I reached the conclusion the remaining days didn’t have enough time for both my friends. I would have to make a choice. Alfie was comfortable and interesting and exciting to be around. Wanda was, too. But in a different way. Unfortunately, they didn’t get along with one another well enough for us to buddy around. It only recently dawned on me why this was. They vied for my attention. Made me feel squirrelly when I understood that. Who would fight over MoonPie Davis? These two, I guess. But it was one or the other, that much was clear.
I took a day off from both of them to figure out my dilemma. It was a miserable day. Like I’d deprived myself of oxygen or something. Worse, it was a harbinger for days to come when neither of them would even be in the same state with me. As the endless day wore on, I tried to decide which one I missed the most. The answer was, both of them. Alfie made me laugh, challenged me at ball and chess and in the swimming pool. Wanda made me feel funny inside. I liked putting my arm around her shoulder in the movie and drawing her close. She smelled good. Felt good.
When I boiled it down in my mind, it came down to sex. I’d graduated from high school and hadn’t had any yet. Arrested development, some would say, although I’m convinced half the guys who crowed over making it with their girls were bullshitters. If not, then most of the girls in this bible belt town were sluts, and that was hard to swallow.
Nonetheless, that’s what all this came down to. I preferred Alfie’s company but craved what Wanda guarded. Guarded. That’s exactly what she did. Guarded her virginity. Was she gonna give in and invite me to participate? Not likely. For the rest of the summer, I’d go home at night aching and unfulfilled. Now, on the other hand, I was pretty sure I could talk Alfie out of his pants again. Wasn’t the same, but it was something.
That made my decision much easier.
*****
Well, did MoonPie make the right decision? Hard to say. One route might be right for some, and the other way might be right for others. That’s what makes the world go round, folks. Hope you enjoyed my musings.
Now my mantra: Keep on reading. Keep on writing. You have something to say… so say it.
If you would like to drop me a line, my personal links follow:
Facebook: Don Travis
Twitter: @dontravis3
Here are some buy links to the Lovely Pines, programmed for release on August 28 (which is coming up fast):
Abaddon’s Locusts is scheduled for release on January 22, 2019. I’m about 60 percent of the way through the first draft of The Voxlightner Scandal.
See you next week.
Don
New Posts are published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.
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