Surprises

Surprises

by

Phoenix Hocking

The beam from the tiny lamp on the kitchen table was especially poor, so Susan adjusted the lampshade so the light fell more clearly on the page. “Entamoeba coli is an amoeba easily found in the intestines of some animals, including humans. Occurs in both healthy subjects and patients, often in diners.” Well, thought Susan, as she pushed the iceberg lettuce around on her plate, isn’t that special?

For some reason, the salad that sounded so good when she purchased it from the deli didn’t look all that great any more. Maybe I shouldn’t try and do my homework while I’m eating, she thought. Besides, it’s my birthday. I think I’ll treat myself to some ice cream.

It was a soft day in early Spring. The colors being birthed from winter’s grasp were muted and a mellow pastel. Butterflies and bees flitted busily between flowers, gathering pollen here and depositing it there. Hummingbirds visited the feeder frequently, their petite wings moving so fast as to be a blur.

Susan leaned back in her chair and pushed the plate aside. The kitchen was so dark compared to outside, and homework or no, she simply couldn’t stand to be cooped up for one more second. She chuckled to herself as she put on her light jacket. It never failed that whenever she donned a coat her dear mother’s ditty came into her mind:

I wrapped my coat about me

To take a haughty leave

My arm went down the lining

Instead of down the sleeve.

Still chuckling, she locked the door and turned to go down the stairs. She sighed just a little then, for Susan hadn’t seen her mother in well over a year. Not since she had moved away to go to college.

Just then, a huge burly man came barreling around the corner, almost knocking her over.

 "Good Lord, George!” Susan exclaimed. “Watch where you’re going!”

George stopped in mid-flight. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Mitzi called me at work and said I needed to come home right away. Do you know what that’s about?”

.“No,” Susan replied. “Do you want me to come with you?”

"Please,” George said. “I’m no good at women’s stuff."

Susan and George stopped outside the apartment and just looked at each other for a moment. What on earth could be wrong? George and Mitzi lived just three doors down from Susan’s apartment and the silence that emanated from the place was deafening. Ordinarily George and Mitzi’s three children were raising all kinds of hell, whooping and hollering and holding each other hostage for one game or another. Today, though, no sounds at all came from the apartment.

Taking a deep breath, George opened the door to his apartment. It was empty. Or at least, it seemed to be empty. Nothing but the sound of the clock ticking in the kitchen greeted their ears.

“Mitzi?” George called, tentatively. “Mitzi?”

Just then, pouring out through closed doors and popping up from behind furniture, all of Susan’s friends burst forth with a mighty, “Happy Birthday!”

Playfully, Susan whacked George on the shoulder. “You knew all the time!”

George grinned. “Yup.”

But the best thing; oh yes! The very best thing of all, was Susan’s mother who came out of the bedroom holding a birthday cake, lighted with twenty-three candles. She was smiling and crying at the same time, and couldn’t put the cake down fast enough. Soon she was holding her beloved daughter in her arms, and whispering, “Happy Birthday, Susan. Happy Birthday!”

END

The three words for this story were given to me by my friend Woody.

The words are: amoeba, lampshade and iceberg.