Peanut Butter

Peanut butter... it's yummy, sticky, creamy or crunchy, and quite versatile. For some unknown reason when an answer fails me "peanut butter" is the first thing to pop in my head. GracieLou was kind enough to entertain me with a story not just involving but actually revolving around peanut butter. I thought I'd give it a go since she was such a good sport.



Sitting on the patio overlooking the lake she sipped her coffee, letting it spill slowly over her lips pooling on her tongue. She savored the rich flavor for a long moment before finally swallowing. Closing her eyes, she slid back in her chair letting her shoulders relax. The early morning was her favorite time of day. It was perfectly silent save for the sounds of nature greeting the day.



In the distance she heard the high pitched chatter of a young woman. Opening her eyes, she sat forward squinting down toward the lake. On the shore stood a tall thin blonde dramatically animated in a conversation with a young man. "It's far too early for a lover's quarrels," she thought to herself. "Perhaps they aren't lovers at all; perhaps they're related." Swirling the last bit of coffee in her mug, she imagined the conditions of the tift.



The young woman crumpled into the sand, her hands covering her face. Clearly she was sobbing. The young man threw his head back in frustration. She could almost hear him grunt, "Ugh!" He crouched down beside her resting his hand on her back attempting to soothe her. She resisted this consolation, jerking away and sobbing even harder. "Perhaps, in a moment of wickedness, he revealed one of her deepest secrets," she speculated. Drawn further into the little drama, she sat her now empty coffee mug down and ventured a little walk for a closer look.



"Unrequited love. That's got to be it. No one sobs like that for any other reason." She was determined to find out what was torturing this poor woman. The closer she got the more she could hear. He was pacing helplessly around her. Through her sobs bits of sentences could be heard, "should have known," "it was mine." Now it was getting interesting. "What was it? A book? A jewel? Something of value?" Her thoughts raced. Curiosity devoured her. She tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Along the way she stopped to pick a few wild flowers, pausing long enough to listen a bit more.





He was speaking slowly in a soft tone to the tearful woman that was now sitting upright, tears still streaming down her rosy cheeks. "Honestly, Jo, I didn't mean it." A name! The new bit of information only fed her curiosity. "Jo must be short for Josephine," she thought. He knelt down beside Jo with a look of genuine remorse. "Jo, I didn't realize it was so important. I'm sorry. Truly. When I walked in the room I saw the book setting on the table. Without thinking I picked it up and thumbed through it. I promise I didn't read anything bad! If I had known... You shouldn't have left it out anyway. I mean... No one was around. I had never seen the book before and wondered what it was. I'm sorry!" His hands were wrapped in hers as he pleaded for her forgiveness.





Jo's sobs had slowly turned into soft whimpers. She looked up at him struggling to forgive him. Her lips parted as if to say something but there was silence. His shoulders slumped and he hung his head. She let go of his hand and placed hers on his shoulder. "It's okay, Pip. Just promise you'll never tell anyone about it. Pretend you've never seen it. It doesn't exist. Don't ever talk about what you read!" Her face was a deep red which made her green eyes seem even brighter. She threw her arms around his neck burying her face in his shoulder. "Alright. I promise. I'll do whatever you want. Just stop crying for Pete's sake." His hand slid down from her back to her side and he tickled her until she pulled away giggling. "C'mon. I'll make you one of my famous PB & J sandwiches for breakfast." Even more cheerful now, Jo jumped in excitement. "Peanut butter and jelly always makes everything better, doesn't it Pip?" She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. As he hugged her in return they both noticed the woman silently watching them with a handful of wild flowers. Her face flushed as she realized she had been seen. Pip pulled Jo gently along.



With a bit of an embarrassed sigh, she climbed slowly up the hill again where her empty mug sat waiting for her. She wandered into the house and sat on the sofa feeling a bit bored. "How very anti-climactic," she thought. The silence lulled her to sleep.

Hours later she awoke to the soft rapping on the patio door. Groggily she shuffled her way over to the empty patio. She scanned the are looking for someone or something that could have made the noise. There was nothing. As she began to slide the door open she noticed a basket at her feet. In the distance just behind a tree she thought she had seen a bit of movement. There was nothing there now. Cautiously she opened the door and picked up the basket. Neatly wrapped in wax paper was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There was a little square sheet of paper tucked on the side. It simply read, "Sorry for the ruckus." She looked around again hoping to catch the two characters from the little morning play but still saw no one. She couldn't be sure but she thought she heard the sweet giggle of the tall blonde somewhere in the distance. "Thank you, Jo and Pip!" she announced to the outdoors.