Valentine's Day

He was a fart in a pan, could never sit still. She had a blind cat named Bumpers which she was allergic to.

Her name was Ashley, but she changed it to Lynn as soon as she was old enough for anyone to take her seriously. In the very act of renaming herself, she removed the frivolity of Ashley, like an ash in the wind and replaced it with some severity, something short and punctuated. She was a wordsmith by trade; shaping, tracing, reading, breathing words. She lived in worlds she couldn’t touch and touched worlds she couldn’t live in. Her cat wandered around the apartment knocking things over on purpose but letting out helpless mews as she did so, so no one would suspect.

His name was Geoff. He never had a thought about changing his name. If he did, he might forget who he was. His energy was manic, curious, never contemplated. From rock climbing, to paragliding, skiing, snowmobiling, everything in his life was extreme. He wanted to die young when he was young so he wouldn’t have to answer questions about being older. But the older he got, the more he realized there are always questions that can survive without answers.

---

It was a good day for laughing. Audrey Rose was skipping around town, spreading her love as far outward as she could, through the snow, the earth - to the core of the earth and upward and out of her body to the ends of the universe. As her feet danced along the hillsides and mountains, she etched hearts into the snow with her fingers. While others were sharing intimate kisses with loved ones, Audrey Rose was kissing every living thing she could find - from trees to abandoned leaves drifting on long journeys. The magpies were too fast for her, but she blew kisses into the air, trying to catch them as they passed. A lone fox shivering from mange approached, hungry and tired. The fox had no need of kisses, but the warmth of Audrey Rose’s hug seemed to comfort her as her tongue repaid Audrey Rose.

Up Rabbit Ears a man was solo-climbing naked. Winter seemed not to affect him, in fact his concentration was focused completely on each move he had to make. There were no ropes to hold him safely, only the strength in his hands, his fingers. He moved gracefully, seemed to know the secrets of the rock.

Audrey Rose scrambled up the backside to the top and waited for his head to pop up. When he saw her there, he almost fell back.

“I see you’re offering yourself as a Valentine’s Day present to the world.”

Geoff laughed at himself. “Just to the world without eyes.”

“Silly boy. Everything has eyes, some of them just don’t see.”

“You are wiser than your years. I’ve heard about you, Audrey Rose, and figured in a town this small we were sure to meet.”

“We have met, but I’m not the one you should meet. There is a woman whose life is in words and your world is without thought. Together you could balance the scales. And I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but since you’re climbing alone naked on Valentine’s Day I’m guessing you have no plans.”

“Who plans? I’m here to go where the world takes me.”

---

There are no words for a naked man appearing at your door. At least for humans. Bumpers had plenty to say between Lynn’s sneezes. Writing the words later let Lynn re-live the moment for as long as paper held ink.

“Whose panties are those?” said Geoff motioning to a pair of panties, size small, on the back of Ashley’s front door. Audrey Rose had positioned herself on a window sill so she could disappear at any moment.

“They’re mine. I leave them so anyone leaving might have fantasies. They weren’t made for me. I bought them because that’s what society thinks an attractive woman would wear,” said Lynn.

Geoff reached over and pulled Lynn’s pants down. “I like yours better.”

Lynn pulled her pants back up. “Have you ever read Carver?”

“Who?”

“Raymond Carver. I feel like I’m in one of his stories. Slightly bizarre.”

“I read some Ginsberg when I was in high school.”

Geoff lifted Lynn onto the kitchen counter. He grabbed a pair of scissors that had recently cut a picture from a magazine. He began cutting her pants off.

“Bukowski was very influential for me,” said Lynn who was thinking Ashley might be a better fit of name for her. She picked up the page of the magazine and started reading. The story was about a plane crash.

-Do not attempt to recreate the events of Audrey Rose’s life. They will result in internal and/or external death or at the very least a yeast infection.