Short Story Sunday: Saturday Nights

Hello and welcome ladies and gentlemen to another edition of Short Story Sunday.  Please be forewarned that this may be too exciting for some readers.  Anyone with a heart condition, pacemaker, or who is pregnant or may become pregnant, please leave now.  I wouldn't want the PULSE POUNDING EXCITEMENT of this week's story to cause you any problems.  Because this is hard hitting stuff.  I'm telling you.  This week, we get to see John and Denise...

Wait for it...

Drum roll...

Pick a movie.  

That's right.  Hold on to your butts.

Saturday Nights

“Star Wars?”

“Watched it two weeks ago.”

“Right.  Toy Story 3?” John pulled the DVD off the shelf.  The box was well worn. 

“Ugh, no thank you.” Denise replied, rolling her eyes.  “If I want to cry because of toys I’ll go step on some Legos. “

“It’s Lego.”

“Yeah, Legos. The sharp things brothers leave out to torture older sisters who want a glass of water at night.”

“No, Lego.” He stated firmly as he returned the DVD to its place of honour on the shelf.  “It’s already plural.  The plural of Lego is Lego, not Legos.” He made air quotes for emphasis as he said ‘Legos’, affecting his most refined idiot accent.

“Oh, I know.  I just call them that to annoy you.” She beamed at him. 

He scowled back.

She continued to beam.

 He continued to scowl.

This went on for some time.

“Shrek.” He said, still scowling. 

“Too kiddie.”

“King Kong”

“Too old. You’ve Got Mail.”

“Too mushy. Star Trek?”

“Too lens-flarey.  Aladdin?”

“Too Disney.  Ghostbusters?”

“Too scary.” John’s scowl screwed up into a look of quizzical confusion when she said that. “How about...”

“Hold on, wait... Ghostbusters is too scary?” He looked back and forth between her and the DVD collection.  “This is the Bill Murray movie we’re talking about, right?”

“Yeah.  What?  Bill Murray has a very unsettling forehead.”  She replied earnestly as she shrugged.

“You are so weird.”

“That’s why you love me.”

“It’s true.”

There was a pause, where they both smiled at each other.  Suddenly a look of realization flashes onto both of their faces.

“Weird Science!” They shout in unison.

“I’ll get a blanket.”

“I’ll make popcorn.” John slipped the disk out of its case and into the player before heading to the kitchen to make popcorn.  When he returned, Denise had encased herself in the blanket, taking up most of the couch and looking like some giant blanket wurm.  He hit play on the remote.

“Abah-ah-ah.  No popcorn until I get a seat.  I know how this works.” He held the bowl out of arms reach. 

She scooted almost two whole inches over, and scowled.  He cocked his head.

Sighing dramatically, she made room on the couch and he flopped down.  She immediately dove into the popcorn. 

“This movie is terrible. ” He said.

“Itf awfil.”  She replied through a mouthful of kernels. The opening credits were playing, and she nuzzled her fully-cocooned body into his.

Contentment.  A smile settled on his face.  He took a minute to simply drink in the joy of sitting on the couch, watching a movie with the woman he loved. It was a perfect moment.  He reached for a handful of popcorn.

The bowl was empty. 

Denise was licking her fingers, cleaning the butter off of them.  She saw him staring. She stopped.

He looked from her face to the empty bowl, and back again.

She looked around shiftily.  Looked at the bowl, then at John.

“Would you believe... goblins?”

John sighed, and got up to make more popcorn.  Denise immediately took his couch space, grinning.  It’s true, the movie was awful.  They both hated it. Or so they assumed.  Six viewings in, and honestly neither of them had seen it.