I just stepped out of the chatterbox for to get a cup of coffee, as I am wont to do around 10aM. I walk up the street a block to a small middle-eastern deli. There are two reasons I like this particular place: the coffee which is strong and the cute red-haired girl who takes my money. She has long reddish hair pulled back in a ponytail, a nice smile, and freckles on her arms, this anti-Scheherezade, caffeinated herald of the sunrise.
She reminds me of someone I knew and someone I never knew.
But she isn’t there today. Last week, I had just crossed that threshold of recognition, she smiled and asked me where I worked. Today I had planned to ask her about fireworks. Now she is gone. Working in her stead is another young woman who is not red-haired, but has a nice smile.
Shall I never again see the cute waitress's cute red tresses?