--YOU'RE ON THE EDGE OF GLORY

...I've been writing a lot.  That old thing where a sentence or word strikes inspiration is back.  Yesterday I wrote 15 stories, albeit some short.  

Here's one... 

                                                                        Life Is Beautiful

            They called her Monkey Face. 

            Boys stuck orange wedges between their mouths and waddled around bowlegged, arms curled as if carrying invisible bed rolls.  Rotten banana peels were often left inside her desk.  Once, she came into class and discovered a crude drawing on the blackboard with the name APE GIRL scrolled above it.

            At the zoo, she saw some.  They were hairy and bark-colored, gloomy-looking or angry.  One tried to snatch her neck through the metal bars.

            She married a man named Eddy.  Her mother was not a fan, but so what?  Eddy called her Queen instead of Monkey Face, sometimes being comical and shouting, “Boungiorno Principessa!” similar to the Italian actor in the film about love and Jews and death.

            Wherever she was, wherever she went, she sought out the unsightly.  Lots of things were soiled or marred, uneven and odd.  To each, she said a silent prayer and sent them a wish.

            After a difficult deliver, the sweaty nurse handed off their baby with relief.

            The new mother studied her newborn’s face.  She bent in beside the infant’s ear and whispered, “Hey there, Beautiful,” and because it was true or wasn’t, the baby cooed back.