Touchdown Hero

by Rachel Maldonado

  “How many bags of food do you want?” asked the attendant as she smacked on her gum.

  “I'll take four bags,” answered Holly.

  “That'll be an additional twelve dollars since it's three dollars a bag. Do you want me to put that charge on the same card?” asked the gum smacking woman as she held up Holly's Visa card.

  “Sure, go ahead,” responded Holly.

  The woman handed Holly four bags of food and Holly handed two of them to Charlie while she set the other two bags down in the center console in the empty drink holders. After ringing up the charges, she handed Holly back her credit card and they entered the park.

  “Have you been here before?” inquired Charlie.

  “A long time ago. But never with you,” said Holly, glancing over at Charlie and winking at her.

  Charlie laughed. “Ah, you think you're slick. I bet you bring all the ladies here.”

  Holly chuckled. “All the ladies? I'm actually not dating anyone but you. Honest.”

  “That's nice to know,” replied Charlie happily.

  Holly made sure to take photos of the lazy bison that were lying down in a group and the zebras and goats. Charlie rolled down her window when a zebra approached. She placed three large pellets of food in the palm of her hand. “Look, he's going to eat it from my hand,” offered Charlie amused.

  To her astonishment, the zebra noticed her bag of food sitting in her lap and leaned his head in to grab it. Charlie screamed and flailed her arms in the air, scaring him. The zebra trotted off toward the trees and large rocks with his treasure so that he could eat it under a tree. Holly burst into laughter and snorted as she laughed.

  “Oh my gosh! You should have seen your face! Are you okay?” asked Holly. She reached over and squeezed Charlie's hand gently.

  “Yes. I'm just a little shaken up. I'll be okay. I can't believe he did that!”

  Holly laughed again. “I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh, but you looked so cute and so surprised and that zebra sure did look frightened. His eyes opened wide, then he turned tail and ran!”

  “I think I'll feed the smaller animals. Drive over there. There's a little donkey.”

  “That's odd,” remarked Holly. “They never had donkeys on this safari before.”

  “Maybe it's a Mexican themed safari today,” joked Charlie, trying to forget about the zebra and find some humor in the day's events.

  Holly giggled. “We'll know for sure if the ostriches have sombreros on. I can offer them some Mexican hot chocolate.”

  Charlie squeezed Holly's hand as she laughed. “Thank you for cheering me up.”

  “I didn't realize you needed cheering up.”

  “That zebra really scared me,” offered Charlie.

  “Aw, hon. It's okay. I'm sure he's done that before to other people. You can have my other bag of food.”

  Charlie rolled up her window only leaving a few inches at the top open. “No, I'm afraid to roll down my window now.”

  “That's okay. You don't have to. You can just toss out the pellets and let them fall on the ground. I'm sure the animals will find them,” suggested Holly. “I'll roll up my window most of the way, too.” She rolled up the window hoping that it would bring Charlie some comfort.

  “That's nice of you. Thanks,” said Charlie.

  “After we drive around to see the giraffes and the rhino we can stop at the petting zoo and the souvenir shop. They have some exotic birds near the store. Most of them are in large cages, but they do have some peahens wandering around. I'm just warning you now that they are loose so you're not scared. Don't worry. They're harmless.”

  “That's what you said about the other animals. And I nearly got eaten by a zebra,” joked Charlie. She looked over at Holly and grinned.

  “You can post that all over your social media pages now. Mean Holly Larson took you to a wild jurassic safari and you nearly got gobbled up by a vicious zebrasauraus.”

  Charlie laughed. “I might just have to. It was a scary carnivorous Zebrasauraus Rex.”

  “You'll have a large number of lesbians trying to come to your rescue, I'm sure,” said Holly playfully.

  Charlie shook her head and laughed. “Oh no, then I won't do that.”

  Holly laughed. “Why not?”

  “Because you're the only one I want to rescue me and you're already here.”

  The edges of Holly's lips turned upward as she smiled. “Let's park and run inside the souenir shop.” Holly drove through a gated section that housed some giraffes and another pen that had a couple of black rhinoceros's before parking in a small parking lot near the Wildlife Gift Shop. Charlie began to close her bag of feed while Holly ran out and opened her door for her.

  “Aren't you sweet? Thank you,” said Charlie as she exited the truck.

  The two women entered the store and looked at everything from ball caps, to ceramic animals, and jewelry. Charlie stopped at the jewelry counter to admire the sterling silver spinner rings, but when she turned around, Holly was gone. “Would you like to see any of the jewelry? I can take something out for you,” suggested the sales clerk.

  “Oh. No, thank you. I was just looking. Did you see where my friend went?”

  “I believe she went to the back of the store,” responded the clerk.

  “Thanks,” said Charlie as she wandered towards the stuffed animals section.

  “Roar!” shouted Holly as she stepped out from one of the aisles. “I found you a Zebrasauraus Rex. Look.” She held in her hands the cutest baby zebra stuffed animal. It had large eyes and a big grin.

  Charlie laughed. “It's so cute!”

  “I knew you'd like it,” said Holly. “I'm getting her for you.”

  “But I didn't get you anything. You go pay and I'll find something,” remarked Charlie, still looking around. “I'll be outside in a second, okay?”

  “Okay.” Holly paid for her item, then waited just outside the store for Charlie on a nearby concrete bench.

  Charlie emerged from the store about five minutes later. “I got you two somethings. I hope you like them.” She sat down on the bench beside Holly.

  A family of four walked out of the store and ran toward the bird cages. A tall man with dark hair was carrying his daughter who was about a year old, his wife walked ahead of him trying to keep up with their five-year-old son who was making a mad dash toward a blue and red parrot. “You didn't have to get me two things,” laughed Holly.

  “I wanted to. Here, open the bag,” said Charlie, handing Holly the dark gray plastic bag.

  Holly was hesitant to open it. She held the bag in her hands and grinned. “What could it be?” She stuck her hand in the bag and pulled out what was on top. It was a blue baseball cap that said Natural Land Wildlife Ranch Adventure in white embroidered lettering. “It's awesome. I love it,” beamed Holly. She put the cap on and it fit her perfectly without needing adjustment.

  “There's something else at the bottom of the bag.”

  “I know. I can feel something heavy in there. Here, you hold your bag,” said Holly, handing over the item she purchased.

  “Okay, we can open them at the same time,” replied Charlie grinning. “One, two, two and a half, three!”

  Both women opened their gift bags and Holly began laughing and couldn't stop. As Charlie pulled out her Zebrasaurus Rex, Holly also pulled out the same stuffed animal. “You got me a Zebrasaurus Rex, too!”

  Charlie blushed. “It's something to remember me by. This way you'll always remember the day you brought me here.”

  Holly leaned in close feeling Charlie's warmth. “I don't need something to remember you. I remember you and think of you every single day.” She gazed deep into Charlie's eyes and kissed her softly on the lips. Charlie had never been one to show public displays of affection, but Holly had a hold on her heart that she couldn't and didn't want to shake. She not only gave into her kiss, but returned it, swirling her soft, moist tongue into Holly's. They kissed tenderly and passionately, then they pulled
away slowly, each breathless.

  Charlie bit her own lower lip and grinned. “I was wondering when you were going to work up the nerve to kiss me. It took you long enough.”

  Holly smiled. “I wanted to kiss you the other night when we were under the stars.”

  “I know.”

  Holly laughed. “How do you know?”

  “I could just tell. You held me close, you sank your face into my neck and were inhaling the scent of my hair, then you kissed me on the cheek. I knew you wanted more.”

  Holly grinned. “If you knew, then why didn't you kiss me?”

  “Because I also knew that if you really wanted to kiss me, you would eventually,” said Charlie with a coy smirk. “Come on. Let's go look at some parrots.” Charlie stood and walked over to the exotic birds. She took out her cellphone and took a photo of a bird that appeared to be stretching. It would outstretch it's wings and bob his head a few times, then repeat. A small crowd had gathered around to watch it and began laughing.

  Holly walked up beside Charlie. “I wanted to see you again tomorrow, but my new house is finally vacant and I'd like to try to move as much as I can since I won't have much time to move during the week.”

  “Smile,” said Charlie, turning her cellphone toward Holly. The camera light flashed as she snapped a photo of Holly. “I can help you move if you want. You didn't look like you had too much. I'm sure we can finish in one day.”

  “Do you really want to help? I can't afford to pay you anything for helping me.”

  “Don't be silly. You don't have to pay me for helping. I'd be glad to help. Besides, I want to see your new place,” replied Charlie grinning.

  Holly walked over to another bird cage and admired the love birds. “Okay. Come over early. We can start by moving all the boxes that I've already packed up and save the furniture for last. That way if we don't get around to taking everything, I'll still have a couch and TV and bed at the apartment until next week.”

  Charlie always loved love birds and smiled when she saw Holly looking at them. She stood beside her and they watched them together. “I have no doubt that we can finish everything tomorrow. We can use my car, too. We'll load up both vehicles with boxes and probably only need two trips, then we'll come back for the other stuff.”

  “I can see you've thought this through thoroughly,” remarked Holly with one eyebrow up.

  “I have. As a matter of fact, I have thought about helping you move ever since you first invited me over, and I saw all your boxes,” replied Charlie smiling.

  Holly walked over to a pond and looked down at the colorful Koi fish. “I love these fish. They look like giant gold fish.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a quarter for the fish food machine. After inserting the coin and turning the dial, a handful of small green pellets came out of the dispenser. “Do you want some?”

  “Okay, give me a few to toss in there.” Charlie took half of the pellets and threw them in one by one. Meanwhile, Holly took her half of the pellets and threw them in all at once, then laughed when all of the fish swarmed the pellets.

  “I like watching them fight over the food,” laughed Holly.

  “That's not nice,” said Charlie, still tossing her pellets in one at a time. “I like watching their lips move. It's like they're kissing fish, just waiting to be kissed.”

  Holly giggled. “I guess you're a kissing fish.”

  “I'm a kissing fish?” asked Charlie tossing in the last of her pellets.

  “Sure. You were waiting to be kissed, weren't you?” jested Holly.

  Charlie gigled. “If I'm a kissing fish, then I guess you're a kissing fish, too.”

  “Why's that?”

  “Because you kissed me,” remarked Charlie with a grin.

  “That doesn't make me a kissing fish. I could just be your Princess Charming,” teased Holly.

  “Everyone knows that frogs and toads are kissed to be turned into a Princess Charming. I'm neither a frog or a toad and I'm not a Princess Charming either. You said I was a kissing fish, therefore, you must also be a kissing fish.”

  Holly laughed. “I don't know if I like your reasoning, but I'll accept it rather than cause a disagreement on fairytales.”

  “Sweet. If you're going to let me win all the time, then we'll get along beautifully,” teased Charlie. Holly grinned, then looked at her watch. She couldn't believe that it had been four hours since they had left the McDonald's. It was nearing supper time.

  “Do you want some popcorn or anything? I'm getting hungry,” said Holly.

  “You know that I can always go for some pizza,” remarked Charlie.

  Holly laughed. “Well, it's not like I can just make you a pizza right here and now.”

  Charlie giggled. “No, silly. I can purchase one from the concessions.” She pointed to a nearby building with some outdoor tables, chairs, and umbrellas. “I saw some people coming out of that building over there with popcorn, cotton candy, corn dogs, and pizza.”

  “Oh okay. Maybe just this once we can have a slice that I didn't make,” said Holly with a half-grin.

  Charlie laughed. “Just this once? No late night deliveries?”

  “I'm moving out into the hill country. I doubt I will get much delivery of anything out there.”

  The two women made their way to the concessions. Charlie ordered two drinks for the both of them and a giant slice of cheese pizza. Holly ordered a large corn dog with french fries. Charlie couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach as she looked over at Holly. She stood at the beverage station and filled one cup with Coke and the other with Sprite. She wondered as she watched Holly find an indoor table if Holly felt them for her, too. She thought the feeling of nervous butterflies would dissipate as they got to know one another, but after they finally kissed, Charlie began to feel them even more than before.

  As they sat eating, Holly watched a crowd of people walk over to the pond where they had been standing. “Do you think those kissing fish of yours will eat the larger food pellets?”

  Charlie couldn't believe Holly had asked. “No, oh my gosh. They'd probably choke. Do you want Sprite or Coke? I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I chose two drinks at two opposite ends of the spectrum.”

  Holly laughed. “I meant that we could break them up first, silly. We still have about a bag and a half left. I'll have Sprite.”

  Charlie took a sip of Coke. “That's not a problem. I want to go to the petting zoo to see the baby goats and piglets.”

  “Piglets?” asked Holly with a questioning expression. “Now how do you know they have piglets?”

  Charlie laughed. “I overheard some of the kids talking about them. I'm not psychic or anything.”

  “Well now that's too bad.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Charlie giggling.

  “It's too bad that you're not psychic, otherwise you could tell me what's going to happen on our date next.”

  “Oh, I can tell you that. That's easy,” said Charlie with a devilish grin.

  Holly smiled. “What?”

  “You're going to take me back to your place.”

  Holly laughed. “I am, am I?”

  “Uh huh. Then you're going to take me in your arms and kiss me with a fever and a passion unlike you've ever felt before.”

  “I think I like the sound of this,” said Holly smiling. “Then what?”

  “Then you're going to walk me to my car, so I can go home and you can have sweet dreams about me.”

  Holly giggled. “I already have sweet dreams about you.”

  “That's good to know,” said Charlie grinning. “Because I have them about you, too.”

  ****

  Holly watched Charlie run into the petting zoo with her bags of pellets. She was surrounded by small goats in an instant. She fed the piglets first that were romping around carefree. She wasn't afraid to feed them probably because they couldn't reach over and take her bags away from her.

  “They're so cute! Oh my gosh. Take my pic
ture feeding them,” remarked Charlie.

  Holly took a snapshot of Charlie feeding the piglets and grinned. She began to laugh when Charlie began to feed the tiny goats.

  “What's so funny?” asked Charlie.

  “There's a goat chomping on the end of your shirt,” laughed Holly, taking another photo.

  “Oh no! Let go, baby goat!” shouted Charlie, tugging on her shirt. The goat had a firm grip on the front end of her button down shirt. She looked like she was playing tug-of-war with the small animal. The children in the petting zoo began to laugh as they watched her for a few seconds, some of them pointed, while their parents only smiled. Charlie finally pulled it so hard that the goat let go. The edge of her shirt was left soggy and with traces of green chewed pellets. “That would happen to me,” said Charlie under her breath.

  “Aw, it's not so bad. It could have been worse.” Holly took another photo of Charlie.

  “You're taking photos of my chewed up shirt?”

  Holly giggled. “Sure. I bet we'll both be able to laugh about this later, and you'll want a photo as proof that it wasn't the Zebrasaurus that was trying to eat you, but the baby goat.”

  Charlie laughed. “Oh yeah. That's one for the scrapbook of memories,” she said jokingly. “At least it didn't chew a hole in it.”

  “Yes, true. And at least you didn't fall down while you were trying to wrestle your shirt away because then I really would have had a pic of you mud wrestling,” said Holly with a wide grin.

  “Oh yeah. I forgot you wanted that pic,” laughed Charlie.

  “Forget? How could you forget? It was your suggestion at the Twin Steins, remember?” asked Holly playfully.

  Charlie watched the family of four that she had seen earlier. The young boy ran from one animal to another petting first one, then another, while his parents watched him closely. Charlie walked up to the boy's mother with a full bag of pellets. “Would you like this bag of food? My friend and I are fixing to leave, and we thought you and your son might want to feed the goats.”

  “That's nice of you. Thank you,” said the woman, taking the bag.

  “No problem. You're very welcome,” replied Charlie.