used. When I smile, my cheeks hurt. I don’t want my cheeks to hurt, so I don’t grin.
Problem solved.
“I can do this all day.”
“I know. It’s fun.” I open the top of the box and lay it against the wall. The gift itself is wrapped in pictures of tongues I printed out. It isn’t hard to sit at a computer, type ‘tongue’ in the search box since it’s one of the few words I know how to spell, and then have Slingshot press ‘print’.
Daphne giggles, covering her mouth with her hands as she stares at the atrocity of the wrapping job. It’s hideous.
“Come on, come, open it.”
She flies toward the box and grabs the middle, crumbling the paper with her fist. She tosses it to the floor and then goes at it with both hands, tearing at it like it’s Christmas. Shredded paper tongues scatter across the floor.
Since the gift is so big, she starts working on the other side. She grins as she unwraps, making tongues snow around her feet. It takes a few minutes, but she finally takes the last scrap of paper off. Before her is a large wooden beam, nearly the size of her. It’s made of a redwood tree I imported from California.
Redwood roots are shallow on the ground, but they never stop growing toward the sky, and that’s how I feel about us.
My roots are shallow, but my love for her constantly grows.
“So,” I clear my throat. I’m nervous. I have never done anything like this before. Giving gifts is all too new for me. “You don’t have to use it. Don’t feel pressured or obligated to. I… I… I wanted to do something nice for you.” There I go, stuttering and sounding like an idiot because of how nervous I am. If she doesn’t like it, that’s okay. I can break it down and use it as firewood. We can have a big bonfire. My feelings won’t be hurt.
My feelings are few and far between, and the only ones I have are for Daphne.
She runs her hand down the beam, her fingers stroking the polished wood. “What is it?”
Before I lose my nerve, I grab each side of the heavy wood. Grunting from the amount of strength I have to use, I turn the damn thing around. When it’s turned, I lay it on its side against the ground so she can see it level, not up and down.
She gasps, her lips parting and her eyes watering.
“I… um. I kn-know th-that…” God, you fucking idiot, just speak. It’s Daphne. Everything will be okay.
“Deep breaths, Comet. It’s me and you,” she says. “No judgement. Take your time.”
I inhale, my chest rising all the way before releasing. “I-I know you were struggling with a name for the bookstore. I wanted to surprise you. I drew the image and was going to give you the paper but decided maybe…”
She finally tears her eyes away from the gift and looks at me.
“Maybe this could be your store sign.”
She clasps her hands to her mouth in a gasp.
I try to keep going. “So I or-ordered the wood and carved it in. Slingshot taught me to read ‘Once Upon a Time’ and spell the words. He was patient. He’s my friend. He helped make this.” Regardless of how silly I sound, the words ring true.
The front of the sign is a carved book. It’s open down the middle with a castle etched on the top left hand side of the open page. My way of telling her she’s my fairytale. The lines of the pages are there too, and in gold letters it reads, ‘Once Upon A Comet’, and then on the bottom right side of the page in burnt black letters says ‘BOOKSTORE’. It took a long time to make, but if she doesn’t want to hang it and use it as her sign, I’ll understand. I’m sure she has her own vision.
She rubs a hand down the gold letters, then caresses the book, outlining every detail with her finger. Every inch of the sign has been sanded and smoothed, and then has a waterproof protectant on it, on top of the shiny finish. There’s no way she can get a splinter.
The wood is as smooth as a baby’s butt.
Not that I’d know. I’ve never seen a baby’s butt, but Dawn says it all the time when she changes Joey’s diaper.
“Tongue, this is… this is amazing. I love it so much. It’s perfect. I love you!” She throws