THE FACE <\/strong> It was Saturday and if it didn\u2019t come in the mail that day then he\u2019d have to wait until Monday. The possibility nearly made him cry. He ran out and checked the front porch every fifteen minutes. He tried to take his mind off it. He couldn\u2019t; the anticipation of his new face was overwhelming all else.<\/p>\n \u201cI still don\u2019t know why you wasted good money on a face,\u201d his wife said. \u201cWe\u2019re retired, on a limited income, and you\u2019re past mid-life crisis. Or should be.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t answer, just shuffled back into the den where he could see the street from the window. He tried to read. He flipped on the TV and flipped it back off, afraid that he wouldn\u2019t hear the mail truck. He reread what he\u2019d just read and still didn\u2019t know what he\u2019d read. Finally, finally he heard the rumbling that signaled the postman. He watched him get out of his truck with a rather large box and come up the stairs. He drew back, hid behind the curtain, suddenly embarrassed. He peeked out as he heard the truck come back to life and move on.<\/p>\n He carried it carefully upstairs, ignoring the exaggerated sigh as he passed the kitchen. He closed the door to the bedroom, pulled out his pocketknife and slit open the box.<\/p>\n It took him several minutes before he got the nerve to touch it. It stared up at him from its nest of bubble-wrap and baby blue tissue paper. It was handsome, more so than he ever hoped for. It had a nose that was perfectly straight and fashionably narrow and noble. It had eyes deepset and as baby a blue as the tissue paper. And a square jawline. How he\u2019d always wanted a square jawline!<\/p>\n Like everything else, the instructions were poorly translated and ultimately confusing. It didn\u2019t help that his hands shook. He took a deep breath, carefully spread the glue–the glue that would allow only two minutes for manipulation before it set permanently into place. He looked into the mirror one last time, then brought the new face up over the old.<\/p>\n \u201cThelma!\u201d he screamed. \u201cThelma!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE FACE Word Count: 362 It was Saturday and if it didn\u2019t come in the mail that day then he\u2019d have to wait until Monday. The possibility nearly made him cry. He ran out and checked the front porch every … Continue reading
\nWord Count: 362<\/p>\n