Mud Pies and Glitter Glue

Spring 2009

 

Mud Pies and Glitter Glue (extended excerpt)

By Desiree J. Fischer

Kurt arrived just in time to help me dig my old blue bike out of the shed. After wading through mountainous boxes of my parents’ things and climbing over various pieces of lawn care equipment, I spotted it. It was still beautiful, if not a little tired looking. It was the bike that my parents had bought me before I went to college. The bike had carried me to the majority of my classes, and when I lived in the city, it had also carried me to and from work.

“Uhh, Liz?” Kurt said as he looked at the bike and then the maze of objects between the door and us. “How are we getting that thing out of here?”

I stared at him thinking, how am I supposed to know? You’re the ‘big strong man!’

So after a lot of huffing, puffing and knocking over boxes, that were surely filled with family heirlooms, judging by the sounds they made as they hit the ground, we managed to get my bike out of the shed.

“Next time,” Kurt managed between peals of laughter, “don’t put your bike at the back of the shed.”

~~~

“So now will you tell me where we are going?” I asked Kurt for the hundredth time.

“I told you, Liz, you’ll see when we get there,” he chided.

I pedaled up next to him and smiled. We rode in silence for a while and then Dorney Park came into view. We had both played there as children. And it was where Kurt had earned his nickname. It was unusually well lit for this time of year, but that was because the carnival was in town.

“So, the ‘mud pie’ kid is taking me to a carnival?”

“Sure, I thought you might enjoy it. But if you don’t want to go, we can do something else.”

“Oh no,” I replied, “I just—”

“Surprised?”

“Yes. Yes, I am”

“In a good way, I hope,” he said, “Now come on, let’s go get ourselves a healthy serving of grease!”

“Sounds great!”

“Oh, and Liz?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t call me “mud pie” kid.” He chuckled.

“Just for that I think I might have to!”

We parked our bikes in the bike rack. Kurt placed his hand on my back, as if he wasn’t sure at first and we made our way me through the crowd, up and down the aisles of food vendors. They had everything you could think of, from deep fried candy bars to something with alligator. We finally decided on Chinese. Pork and Chicken Lo Mein were our choices.

Instead of fighting the crowd for a picnic table and parked ourselves on a set of swings away from the noise and bustle of the carnival. We ate in relative silence, swinging back and forth in time with the music from the carnival rides. After we finished Kurt took away our trash and I sat on the swing a while longer. Then two strong hands took a hold of the chains and pushed me off into the air. I gave a most unladylike screech and looked back to see Kurt doubled over laughing.

“I’ll get you for that!”

“I’m sure you will, Liz, I’m sure you will.”

~~~

Kurt led me through the maze of people. He prattled on about everything, work, family, food, even sports. I added a comment here and there, but mostly I just listened, enjoying his company. We stopped at a game booth. The one where you have to knock over the milk bottles in order to win a prize. Kurt winked.

“Do you think I should try?”

“You can if you want, but they’re rigged.” I said.

“No, I mean—I don’t know. Never mind.”

It took Kurt many tries and a good fifteen dollars before he was finally able to win me a small plush panda bear which I dubbed Ni Pai after trying to translate “mud pie” to Chinese. Anyway, Kurt laughed as he handed it to me, mumbling some sort of apology about its size.

“But I like that he’s small. It makes him travel-sized,” I said and he beamed.

So with my little panda nestled snuggly in my jacket pocket we made our way back to the bike rack. We took our time, slowly picking our way down the path; the lights from the carnival were beginning to go out. The crescent moon cast an eerie glow across the path. I grabbed his arm, though I was only slightly spooked. He snickered and said, “You know I am going to need that to unlock our bikes, right?”

I glared at him, “Fine, I just didn’t want you to be scared, that’s all.”

I dropped his arm while he removed the chains from our bike, then he brushed my hand with his, I’m not sure if it was on accident or not. We mounted our bikes and pointed them towards home.

We rode back in relative silence; the street was well lit, unlike the park. And when we reached the corner of Hannah Lane, Kurt stopped and turned to me, “Race you back?”

I didn’t even answer him; I just started pedaling as fast as my legs would carry me. I’m not really sure if he was letting me win or not, but I didn’t care. It was nice to act like a kid again.

I was off my bike and on my way up the porch steps before he caught up to me, we were both breathing heavily. He chuckled.

“I guess this means I win, huh?” I said.

“I guess so.”

“God, I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”

“I’m glad you had a good time, Liz. I better get going, good night.” He turned and headed down the steps.

“Kurt, wait.” I called starting down the steps. He met me on the bottom step.

I threw my arms around him and muttered some silly brand of thanks into his ear. He seemed surprised at first but then returned the hug. He’s a lot stronger than I even thought he was, I mused. I breathed in the scent of his cologne. It was an intoxicating blend of sandalwood and spices. It was after the hug that I did something completely out of character, I mean really out of character. I pulled away slightly, leaving my hands on his shoulders even though his hands slid off my waist, and said to him, “Always kiss me goodnight.”

I planted a light kiss on his cheek and bounded up the stairs. My plan was shock and awe, well; there was plenty of shock, but I’m not sure there was awe.

“Wait.” He said, following me up the stairs I turned and was caught, spellbound by his pale eyes. His lips brushed mine, only for an instant, but long enough to make my head spin.

Kurt smiled and trotted down the stairs his ears were bright red in the porch light. Before mounting his bike he coughed and muttered, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Liz. Pleasant dreams.”

I waved and he rode off. I just stood there a while, blushing furiously. Finally I was able to make my brain, make my body open the door. This was the third time today he had managed to shock me. Well you did tell him to kiss you goodnight. This was true. And I didn’t mind.

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