As the introduction of this series states, above all else these are stories of reinvention. In this case, having committed themselves to retiring their old personas for the new, our six featured characters, Jesse and Sarah, Chuck and Lena, Carla and Lilli, are becoming totally vulnerable whether they are aware of it or not. In a frenzy of well-intentioned hedonism they will undoubtedly speak of their new convictions and feelings as well as be obligated to live with the consequences. By doing so they are automatically exposing themselves to praise or ridicule, acceptance or rejection which is by definition the first requirement of reinvention. Bully for them. As philosophers have long said, our vulnerability is the only thing of real value that we can give to other people. Let the games begin.
Sarah's plane lifted up through the clouds over Zurich at 0800 hours. By the time she touched down in San Francisco she had been flying for 19 long hours including a stopover in Philadelphia. Her journal that day describes, in detail, how she flirted shamelessly with one married man and two helpless college boys all of whom became quite discombobulated when she coyly confessed to still being a virgin.
At SF International, their physical changes notwithstanding, she and her father recognized each other immediately. It was as if they had seen one another just the other day. After a somewhat awkward attempt to bond they loaded her luggage into the back of his car. As they pulled into traffic, Sarah fell quickly and deeply to sleep. Next stop Oroville to revel in old friendships and the annual Oroville Olive Festival.
Sarah Kay slept during the entire four-hour trip to the Risconi olive ranch and adjacent processing plant. Later she recalled being groggy even as Lena, the gray haired matriarch of the old Italian family, and her father guided her up to her private bedroom on the third floor of the big house. She remembered nothing more until she finally awoke into an already warm predawn of a new day. She climbed out of bed to find herself wearing only an over-sized t-shirt with a large martini olive on the front worn over the large cotton panties she'd be issued by the Swiss convent. Looking out the window she saw a rather grizzled but distinguished old Mexican ranch hand sitting on the diving board of an Olympic-size swimming pool rolling what she imagined to be a marijuana cigarette. Sarah heard the back door slam shut and Lena appeared in a long night gown carrying two large mugs of coffee and joined the man on the diving board. The man, actually the foreman and Squint by name, kissed Lena pleasantly on the lips before lighting the hand rolled joint. After each had a long drag and exhaled with great relish they tapped their mugs together and settled back to watch the sun come up.
Sarah quickly dug through her suitcase and pulled out her 1920's athletic tank suit that she'd also been issued at the convent. Slipping it on and grabbing a towel she headed for the pool
This is, please understand, a story set in California's olive country and is meant to be a study of the humorous roles people play in their everyday slippery existence and what can happen when life throws them an unexpected, extra-virgin curve ball. Places everyone.
Copyright 2010 G. Leo Maselli
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