Quivering With Bradley

I first met him when I was only seventeen. I was in the supermarket carrying a cigarette when he trekked in. He was wearing an indigo pair of Oxfords, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his spleen, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the cigarette down when he careened beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the cigarette right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to quiver.

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the café for a rum and Coke. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the café, I learned that his name was Bradley, and that he was a nomadic sheepherder. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a groundskeeper.

I guess it was love at first quiver. Some might say we had Kindles in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was fourteen years younger than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still quivering for each other.