Charles & Beatrix

Charles packed his suitcase and traveled East. Beatrix met him at the airport with a sign drawn on thick cream paper with her best charcoals: Welcome Charles!

On the way home, Beatrix took a wrong turn and got them lost. Don't worry said Charles. I enjoy a good adventure.

During the day they went to school and work. At night, they sat on the floor and cut pictures from old magazines and turned the pictures into cards. They sent these cards back West, to Charles' sisters and their grandmother.

It snowed one night and didn't stop for the morning sun. They stayed home from school and work and Beatrix made them big mugs of tea with cream and just a bit of sugar. All day, Charles and Beatrix watched the snow pile up.

I think I'd like to have a doughnut Charles said. They mixed flour and yeast, warm water, sugar and shaped the dough into balls and dropped them into the bubbling grease.

Late that night the snow stopped falling, so Charles and Beatrix tied scarves around their necks and set out through the drifts, down the street and up the hill covered with trees. In the clear air, under the full moon, they could still smell the maple on their fingers.

for JCS.