Spoon-Face Julia
robert a. dollesin
Because Julia Farley's face was concave we made her our buddy.
On Saturdays, after H.R. Puffnstuff, the guys and I would bang on the Farley's door and ask Julia's mother if her daughter could play outside for a couple hours. Of course, Mrs. Farley always agreed, even offered us brownies if we returned our spoon-faced friend by noon.
We laid Julia down on her back, lugged the garden hose over. One of the guys always poked a couple straws into her nostrils so she could breathe. Sometimes we released a dozen guppies, watched them swim the shallows of Julia's sunken face. Other times we whistled stray dogs over and encouraged them to lap up the water.
In the playground, we'd grip Julia by her ankles and use her face to shovel for treasure in the sand beneath the swings. Near noon we took turns, resting our elbows in Julia's sunken face while watching planes trail overhead.
But something sad happened about the time Julia's face filled out. Her breasts and butt filled out, too. Older boys began to drop by the Farley home.
We truly did miss Julia Farley's company; duck-lipped Donna Dixon was nowhere near as willing or fun.
Robert Aquino Dollesin resides in Sacramento, California. Much of his online time is spent at Critters Bar, one of those small back alley writers workshops that speckle the web. They tolerate him there: http://www.crittersbar.com/