Cheering Up With Hazel

I first met her when I was only fourteen. I was in the health food store carrying a nail when she dove in. She was wearing a burgundy pair of moon boots, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her pancreas, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the nail down when she traipsed beside me. I guess she startled me, and I clumsily dropped the nail right by her feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to cheer up.

After stumbling apologies, I asked her to go to the video arcade for a glass of buttermilk. She accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the video arcade, I learned that her name was Hazel, and that she was a ship's officer. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as an FBI Agent.

I guess it was love at first cheer up. Some might say we had fish bowls in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. She was five years younger than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still cheering up for each other.