Yellow

My heart was pounding. My foot pressed firmly against the pedal slowly gained speed up Denny Ave. Regrade my ass, I can barely get this four banger up the damn street! It didn’t help that this was the first real date I’ve been on in months. Hopefully she wouldn’t get to see my piece of shit truck, so I purposely looked for parking blocks away from our destination, out of sight. The day was typical, it was June, somewhat gloomy, chilly… definitely a day to grab a quality hoodie or light jacket. I wore the Seattle Blacks, you know, black jeans, shoes, and coat, and I believe I had a black cap on as well, the typical style of most kids on the hill for a late spring chilly day. My grey truck squeaked to a stop somewhere deep in the zone parking area; I had two hours until this date would become more expensive with a parking ticket. I lit up a fourth Marlboro 27 and gave myself the halftime locker room pep talk. Ok, let’s do this shit! The black concrete moved under my feet like a treadmill and the overcast gloom gave me no particular enthusiasm. My heart raced, and mind recreated pictures and moments of the few minutes we spent together the night before, she was beautiful. The pep talk was taking hold and I was prepared to woo and whoa her every delight. I turned the corner, slowly stepping with the cockiness of Tony Manero, taking the sexiest drag of my cigarette I could image, and then placing it beneath my middle finger and flicking it to the curb. I watched the embers explode and extinguish on the cold concrete as my eyes rose from the street. Slowly, each degree revealed a deeper beauty, and I became captivated by the most incredible woman, wearing a bright yellow jacket! Warmth, hope, and happiness punched me in the stomach and took my breath away! The grey gloom disappeared and the sun was shining a bright yellow love. The buildings around us changed into a forest, exposed with no canopy, the newly existant sunshine illuminated the area like lights on a stage. I had to shield my eyes. I was in a fantasy world. This yellow jacket, most likely made of cotton, had the style of a light and miniature pea coat, buttoned from her waist to her breasts, and fastened with a 2 inch thick belt around her ribs. Our rendezvous was at a bar, a small old house looking building which had a large wooden deck at its entrance. We looked up and suddenly the wooden structure rose from the soil as a grandeur ship, soaked deep with adventure. The bow was constructed of a single beam, carved like a totem pole, revealing the past, or future. It rose powerfully like a plant germinating, breaking its seed for its first breath of life, but on a Roman scale. As we both looked down to the street, we saw to disbelief that we were floating in a mahogany row boat of master craftsmanship. An energy twisted through my blood veins, I couldn’t speak, my words usually so bold and witty collapsed into the sea we now floated upon. Weird fishes of the brightest colors swam playfully around us, rainbows stretched across all parts of the land like the LA freeway system. Music, compassionate and invigorating chirped from the tropical birds flying above. My Seattle blacks faded into neon hues and exposed my twitterpated heart. The heat was intense, but the last thing I wanted to do was find shade. Rhythm and love began twirling in a hurricane of emotions, impossible to express in any way, except for one. “Do you like to dance?” she questioned. The light of day had already faded, we had been together for over my two hour parking limit, and I felt that I had only been standing here for moments. The moon was a smiling light of cheese and the stars scurried around the sky as millions of fire flies, smiling upon our acquaintance. I looked around and felt a warmth, like this yellow jacket was made to keep me comfortable and at ease. “I love to dance.” I replied, and yellow has been my favorite color since.