Thursday, September 13, 2018

ZYNDI ZUE


dontravis.com blog post #302

Once again, funny. “Larry and Laura” got a ton of page views… very few comments. Go figure.

Here’s some more nonsense for this week.

*****
ZYNDI ZUE

          Prissy Pullman eyed her best friend across the malt shop’s checkered tablecloth, disbelief clouding her eyes. “You can’t do this!”
          “Already did,” said Cynthia Sue Breedwell, teasing her recently dyed red, orange, and blue hair through long fingers tipped with ebony nails. “Also got a nose piercing, and put three earbobs in each lobe yesterday. The tats will come later. By the way, call me Zyndi Zue from now on.”
          Prissy eyed her friend’s hair critically. “Red and orange?”
          “And Blue.”
           “Ugh.!
           “You’ll get used to it. I already have.”
           “That’s because you don’t look in the mirror all day while I have to watch you for hours.”
          Zyndi Zue regarded her through magenta accented eyes. “You don’t have to, you know.”
          Prissy’s’ gasp drew the attention of half a dozen staring spectators. “Cynthia! I—”
          “Zyndi. If you want to remain my friend, I’m Zyndi Zue.”
          Prissy pulled a frown. “Do I have to?”
          “You hafta. That’s how I’ll tell friends from foes.”
          “You don’t have any foes.”
          “Not before I dyed my hair. Now we’ll see.”
          Prissy couldn’t argue with that, so she returned to wailing. “But you’ll never get any boyfriends. Not looking like that.”
           Zyndi shrugged. “Who needs ‘em?”
           “You do. I do. We all do.”
          “That’s what they want us to think. Besides, they’ll come.”
          Prissy’s nose caught a sharp odor. “Ugh, what’s that smell?”
          “Brut.”
          “Brut? That’s a man’s aftershave. It… it smells okay on them, but on you? Why are you doing this?”
          “I’m resigning from the world and telling it to go screw itself.”
          “What do your folks think?”
          “I’ll tell you when my mother stops fainting every time she sees me.”
          “What about Frank?”
           Frank had been Cynthia’s boyfriend since forever. Prissy always believed nothing could ever come between them. But blue and red and orange hair might just do it.
          Zyndi waved dismissively. “Who cares? He’s history, anyway.”
          “No! When?”
          “Last week. He thought we ought to broaden our horizons, live life a little.” Zyndi Zue framed her face with both hands. “So I took him at his word.”
           Prissy compressed her lips for a moment before speaking. “I’m not sure he meant this.”
           “Who cares what he meant. He doesn’t fit the new me, anyway.”
           Despite herself, Prissy blurted: “Who does?”
           “Maybe nobody, but who cares?”
           Prissy returned to what was important to her. “Have you thought this through, Cynthia… uh, Zyndi? There isn’t a boy in our whole school who’ll have anything to do with a girl who walks around lit up like a neon.”
           Zyndi fluttered lashes heavy with mascara. “This is a big town. There are other boys besides the duds in our school.”
          “But how will you meet them?”
           Zyndi shrugged her as yet untattooed shoulders. “Who knows, but it can’t be that hard.”
          “I’m not sure—”
          A deep masculine voice interrupted Prissy. “Well, hellooo, mama!”
          They looked up to see a well-shaped young man with spiked pink hair and a ring in his nose. Black and green ink snaked up his tanned arms and disappeared beneath the sleeve of his T-shirt.
          “I’ve not seen you before?” he continued, staring at Zyndi.
          “I’ve not been before,” she countered. “Not until yesterday.”
          “I’m Zhak. You need orienting?”
          “Big time.”
          Zhak held out a hand. Zyndi took it, stood, and fluttered the fingers of her unencumbered hand at her friend. “See you later.”
          Prissy sat with her mouth hanging open as the two disappeared through the malt shop door. At length, she shook her head and blinked.
          Wonder how I'd look in cherry and gold?

*****
Did you see anyone you recognized? Your younger self, perhaps?

Don’t forget that The Lovely Pines is now out. Please get a copy of the book and give me feedback.

Now my mantra: Keep on reading. Keep on writing. You have something to say… so say it.

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Twitter: @dontravis3

Here are some buy links to the Lovely Pines, which (as noted) was released on August 28:



Abaddon’s Locusts is scheduled for release on January 22, 2019. I’m  hard at work on 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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