“Empty Valentine”
By Adam Gentry
Rows of animals stare back blankly at me. I pick up a small monkey. There’s something hard inside him. “I’ve got bananas for you,” it says in a high and frightening voice. I put him back on the shelf. I certainly would not be happy if I got that for Valentine’s Day. Looking up beyond the shelves I see three walls of cards, perhaps 20 feet long. More shelves line the back wall, with porcelain figurines. Two girls look through the Valentine’s Day cards near the front of the store.
“Of course mine is…”
“Physical?” Her friend asks.
“Sexual.”
“Get something good this year,” her
friend suggests.
She picks up a few cards and after a moment she puts them back down in disgust.
“I’m gonna puke, maybe this wasn’t a good idea.” She walks around the cards like a lost child.
“I don’t like Valentine’s Day,” she
finally admits.
“You just need to remember how you
feel about each other. Love is key.”
“I didn’t get anything last year, I
won’t this year,” she says as the two of them inch toward the front counter.
“Maybe you should get him
something. Like those Krispy Kremes.” Her friend giggles.
“I won’t get him anything.”
“Ya, you already got him a Valentine’s Day dinner, you’re fine. Play hard to get.” Her friend turns to me.
“Mind if I go next? I need to get her out of here.” I shake my head.
She puts a card and some wrapping paper on the counter, pays, and they walk out. The last thing they see as they walk out the door are the “love cuffs”, “for your prisoner of love.”
An employee with brown hair watches them go.
“I hate how commercial Valentine’s Day has become,” she says to her blonde co-worker, who is taking things off shelves.
“What ever happened to romance? You don’t need a big box of candy for that.”
“What do you want?” The blonde says without looking up from her work.
“A road trip, no destination, just in the car with the one you love and a change of clothes. Flip the coin and take off.”
“That doesn’t sound very romantic.”
“It was for us,” the brunette says dreamily. “We ended up in Vermont. There was this restaurant, the High Five, on top of a huge motel. It was gorgeous. Nice waiters with white uniforms who were ready whenever you wanted anything, no rush; just lots of time to talk. We were there for three hours just talking and admiring the view. Nowadays everyone is going over the top: coming into a store and buying out all the candy, which she probably won’t eat half of, and a giant teddy bear she doesn’t want. She wants something with meaning. Just give a personal card; put some thought behind it, because guys obviously can’t say what they’re feeling. But these days some girls expect nothing and some expect too much.”
The blonde girl stands up with a small bear in her hand and walks over to the counter.
“Found a defective one.”
Without a
word she reaches into a drawer and pulls out an exacto knife and begins
mutilating the bear. She slices a long cut across its stomach and casually
begins pulling the stuffing out. Next she takes another swing at the bear, this
time across the head. She cuts a deep gash from the top down to the eye and
once again begins pulling out every piece of cotton she can. Within minutes
this small bear is nothing but an empty husk, discarded in the trash. The candy
that went with the bear lies on the counter. The two girls argue over who will
take it and finally settle their disagreement by handing me all of the candy in
a bag. As I walk out with a bag of chocolates that cost a small bear his
stuffing, I see a couple walking into the store holding hands. They are arguing
furiously, their faces flaming with rage, but they are still holding hands.
