The next topic is PICK TWO Pebbles, Shiny, A monkey’s wedding, Footlights, Listen, Birthday cake
NORVAL JOE
“It sounds like your dad is getting pretty bad.” Billbert paused before he asked, “Has he hit you?”
“No,” Mandi said, sadly. “Not yet, at least. If he starts to get too worked up, Mother gives him some red wine.”
“Wine!” Billbert gasped. “Is giving him alcohol a good idea?”
Mandi waved her hands. “No. It’s non-alcoholic. Daddy imports it from a vineyard in South Africa.”
Billbert stood. “I gotta go. You need to convince your parents to let you get back to school, or they’re going to send someone looking for you.”
Mandi nodded. “Right. That wouldn’t be good.”
SERENDIPIDY
I only grow grapes for white wine in my vineyard. Something to do with the soil, I believe, but I’m no expert, I just run the business.
However, I do know that red wine is far more popular with those who know their stuff and I can sell it for far more than the white.
All of which leaves me with something of a dilemma.
Nevertheless, I’ve come up with a solution: A secret ingredient that not only turns my wine red, but also enhances the taste.
It’s ferrous and deep.
You could say, it adds ‘body’ to the wine.
TOM
First Hangover
In my friend Tim’s backyard his Dad an otherwise homicide monster, build his son the coolest wooden fort. Later it became the home for 100 tumbler pigeons but that would be a different story. A shitty story that. Well, we 18 and we had moved from comic books to girls. And what better way to interact will the fairer sex then the introduction of red wine, Andre Cold Duck. The four of us squeegeed into the fort, four Dixie cups. Both Cindy and Helen nursed a single cup. Tim and I dusted off the other 700 ml. Morning came hard.
862
What happens next?
The what happen next of this story, is the phone call my roommate got, from his mother. It starts out with an excellent idea: we were going to perform a Moving Moon in front of the girl’s dorm. Let’s call him Jim, Jim is leaning out an open door as he drops his pants. The driver hits the gas. Jim tumbles into the street. We gather him up and head to the hospital. The med tech looks at Jim in confusion. “How is it you ripped your ass, but not your pants?” Bummer his mom was that hospital’s administer.
LIZZIE
He looked at the menu.
“Any red wine?”
The waiter shrugged.
“Any pizza?”
The waiter opened his eyes wide.
“Pizza?!” The waiter shook his head. “Here, Japanese food. If you want pizza, go to Italy.”
“How rude. I’ll just use my phone translator.”
He fired up the app and pointed the phone at the menu.
“Lots of dishes. Oh, wait a sec. Waiter!”
The waiter got back.
“Four bodies for 130 yen?!”
The waiter sighed.
“Yes, the other three are in the freezer. We’re just waiting for a fourth one.”
That’s when he decided to tiptoe out of there asap.
RICHARD
– An excellent vintage –
I always choose a bottle of wine from the menu by pointing, I tell the girls it’s because I don’t like to sound pretentious, so I keep it nice and discrete.
That’s not to say I don’t go through all the expected motions, giving it a good swirl, eyeing the depth of colour, checking the bouquet, and – of course – taking a good slurp to assess the palate before I’ll even think of accepting the bottle.
I know it doesn’t fool the sommelier, but it sure fools the girls.
And I always go for the cheapest house red.
Don’t tell them!
LISA
A Ritual Sacrament
Part of our ceremonies had a kind of communion aspect. We’d always sit in a circle for chants and singing. These assemblies made us feel like we really belonged. The rest of the world felt very far away from our safe little gathering.
He had a different cape for these sessions. It was white and long, skimmed the grass as he moved among us. They were often at night; lit by the stars. At the end we opened our mouths as if taking a wafer and red communion wine. He’d place a pill on our tongue as a drum banged.
PLANET Z
I don’t know what wine goes with what food.
I’ve never been a connoisseur or gourmet or any of that.
I know that I liked Chateu St. Jean’s cabernets, but only the even years.
The person at the store or the restaurant tells me to buy this or that.
And, yeah, they were right.
Too bad about the food I’d cook, it never quite came out right.
So I’d rely more on the restaurant than the fancy grocer.
These days, I don’t drink. (Health reasons, let’s leave it at that.)
So nothing goes with nothing. Just water, maybe iced tea.
CHATGPT
Anna swirled her glass of red wine, watching it catch the candlelight as the party buzzed around her. She was at her best friend’s engagement celebration, but her mind was elsewhere. The rich aroma reminded her of last summer in Tuscany, where she had met Marco. Those days were filled with laughter, late-night talks, and a promise to see each other again. But life had other plans. Now, as she took a sip, the bittersweet taste mirrored her memories. She smiled, knowing that every glass of wine would forever be a toast to love found and lost, but never forgotten.