Look Before You Leap - A Craven Danger Mystery
By hudsonmoon
- 637 reads
“I don’t know how you can stand on your own two feet after the way you were wolfing down those plates at the automat last night.”
“Cut it out, Betty. I wasn’t that bad.”
“You were going at those chicken legs like you were mortal enemies. And your reckless behavior with the desert tray was downright brutal.”
“Ah, go on. You’re exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating? You still have chocolate frosting on your earlobes from when you plowed through that Black Forest fudge cake.“
“Ah, quit your kidding, Betty. I do not.”
“And you sure did pull a Craven last night.”
”I pulled a Craven? What’s that supposed to mean?”
”It’s something folks have been saying about your behavior.”
“My behavior?”
“Your quirks.”
“I have quirks?”
“Yeah. The way you do the things you do. Like when we went walking down 86th street last night, and you ended up dancing with that lamppost because you had your eye on the hot dog vendor and not on where you were going.”
“That lamppost was way out of line, Betty. I’ve written the mayor about it a hundred times.”
”We call that pulling a Craven.”
“We, Betty? So, you’re in on this, too?
“I got a front row seat, Mr. Danger. As a matter fact, I report all Craven-like activity to the editor of the monthly newsletter.”
“What Newsletter?”
“The Monthly Bungle. It’s a genuine hoot. Sidney’s column is a real knee-slapper.”
“My cab driver can write? Well, I hope he writes better than he talks.”
“In his last column he wrote, A Craven was pulled last night when a parachutist attempted a daring leap off the Empire State Building, only to come crashing through the roof of the mayor's black Studebaker on account of he forgot his parachute. The mayor was not happy, as he just had that roof repaired from the time that guy with the home-made wings failed to flap his way to a safe-landing. ‘I really gotta find another parking spot,’ said the mayor.’”
“So, this newsletter isn’t just about me?”
“No, Mr. Danger. It’s about people just like you. You’re the inspiration.”
“I’m an inspiration? Well, that’s different. For a minute there I thought you were pulling my leg.”
Photo courtesy of Wiki Commmons:
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Comments
So much fun to read these, I
So much fun to read these, I love the characters you've created and I can definitely see them populating old New York, my favorite place and I have to say the line about the automat brought me a personal memory with my dad that I found myself writing about, and happily revisiting - so thank you for that prompt.
The cherries are well deserved. Bravo.
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