The Beautiful One...Who Snorted

    I sat on a bench with a woman who snorts when she laughs....

 

...like every time she laughs. 

  You may be thinking she was an older woman, but no. She was young and

pretty. Her snort caught me off guard. With every chuckle, I tried to act as if I was

comfortable with her snorting like that. 


...And snorting some more like that. 

  I was anything but comfortable. “You are an attractive young woman and probably catch 

the eye of many young men”, I thought. “Uh... how is that snort thing working out for

you?" I wanted to help her. Certainly she needed my help.

 

Cheerfully, she chatted along, but my distraction with her snort continually

interrupted my listening and I was missing her story endings. I doubted she was aware

that she snorted every time she laughed. 


...no one in their right mind would snort every time they laughed...


... if they knew they snorted every time they laughed.  


Poor thing. So good that it was me she was visiting with today. I was thinking on how 

to go about it.....helping her, I mean. I was careful not to share one of my funny stories with 

her. That would never do. Clearly with this girl, you only wanted to speak of the most

serious, somber kinds of things. Nobody laughs at those serious, somber kinds of

stories


...and nobody snorts either.

Perhaps there was some sort of blockage in her nose/throat passageways. Maybe

she could do some coughing, some nose-blowing....maybe even some hocking if

need be - grossly unfeminine for sure – but perhaps justified here – if only for a moment

-just until this blockage thing was cleared. That would make it better, less

embarrassing for her.

It got quiet. She and I were stuck in a pause...a contemplative pause. for me.

.

What had happened? The light we had between us had faded and was pretty much

gone. I wanted it to be bright again. The air felt sad, oppressive. Darn that blasted

blockage. Seemed like such an easy thing to clear. She never asked for my help. She

had a beautiful smile.  I longed for it to return along with her joyful chatter -

but with it would eventually come a chuckle 


which would lead to a snort


...followed by the embarrassment.

A handsome young man – quite dashing, really -- came along. Her light was

back. Glowing so brightly! She was relaxed with him, enjoying the moment –  all the

while, snorting away shamelessly. He clearly loved her – snort and all. Taking her hand, 

they left, happy and joyful. 

Eventually, I left too, tripping over my smaller foot as I walked away.. Could have been 

such a nice visit. Darn that blasted blockage. Seemed like such an easy thing to clear.