Title: Christmas in July
Prompt:
writerverse challenge 16 july table, prompt 02 ‘almonds’
Word Count: 313
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: original (
Zeke Jones ‘verse)
Summary: Zeke and Howell stop for a snack.
Note(s): originally posted to the
writerverse wv_library Christmas in July
There were always vendors on the streets of Philadelphia, some legal and some not, especially in the summer when it was warm enough to stay out long after dark. The sun was just setting as Howell and I started our shift, casting a warm rosy glow over the trucks and awnings lining the sidewalk.
“Oh, look, sir!” I said, pointing out one stall, a plain red awning trimmed with tinsel and hung with glittery paper snowflakes.
“Christmas?” said my partner.
I grinned. “Christmas in July, sir. One of the best thing ever invented.” I studied the hand-written blackboard menu. “Lebkuchen!”
“Made fresh this afternoon, officer,” said the plump, smiling woman at the register.
“I’ll take three,” I said, “and a small spiced cider. Sir?”
Howell frowned. “We’re just starting, Jones. You’ll ruin your dinner.”
“We can get dinner here, too. There’s wiener schnitzel and knockwurst and-”
“We can’t eat now, at any rate, or you’ll be whining you’re hungry by midnight,” my partner said, then before I could protest, he added, “I’ll take two of those delicious-looking almond buns, please.”
I risked a lecture on ruining my dinner by nibbling on a lebkuchen as we started walking again, but Howell just glanced sideways at me. “I didn’t know you spoke German.”
“What?” I said, around a mouthful of ginger cookie, and swallowed. “Oh, no, sir, I don’t speak it. I just learned to pronounce it really well.”
“So you can say things in German, but you don’t know what they mean?”
“Yep,” I agreed, easily. “I mean, most of what I know is food and Christmas carols, so there’s not much chance of accidentally insulting someone.” I paused and glanced sideways at him. “Sir, did you order the almond buns because they were the only thing on the menu you could pronounce?”
“I like almond buns,” said Howell.
I grinned. “Yes, sir.”
THE END
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