Honey, I’m Charmed!

/ roughwighting

heart https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-pizza-heart-tomatoes-8524058/RolandI stumble backwards at the sight of Roger.

How on Earth can Roger – the Roger I’ve known and bantered with and talked to (in my head) for 46 years – be here? In flesh and blood and a smile that could light up a lonely midnight? (See part1 https://roughwighting.net/2024/01/26/honey-im-home/#more-10186)

“Roger,” I stammer, stepping another foot backwards, “you can’t …”

“Of course I can,” he replies in the voice I’ve imagined since my college graduation. His head tilts. “Don’t believe it? Feel this.” Roger carefully sets down the glass of red wine he’s holding and bends his right arm while using his left hand to push on his bulging bicep. https://pixabay.com/photos/arm-muscle-strong-biceps-exercise-735823/daniel64

“But you’re not . . . “

With his arm still curled he interrupts, “Made of cotton? With handknit eyebrows and mouth?” His lips twitch into a sideway smile. “Come on. Feel.”

I slowly, slowly walk toward the man who appears to be my “Roger.” I delicately touch his bicep, which is as hard as the thumping in my chest. “Roger?” I squeak, stepping back again.

“We’ve been best buddies since Ariana introduced us,” he replies, a shy expression on his wide-open face.

My college roommate Ariana and I used to order pizza weekly on study nights. On the day we graduated, she gave me a gift in a red box tied with a green bow. “Our marguerite pizza colors,” she explained as I carefully opened the box.

pizza boyhttps://pixabay.com/illustrations/pizza-teenager-kid-male-manga-7482349/julientromeurI giggled, then burst out laughing as I pulled out the foot-high cotton doll wearing khaki pants, sneakers, and holding a pizza.

“His name is Roger,” Ariana declared. “Some lady made him to order. He’s your pizza boy toy.”

Roger has lived with me ever since, standing atop the cookbook shelf in my kitchen. Did I talk with him while sautéing and steaming and baking, just as I conversed with the other inanimate objects in my house?

You betcha.

Did he talk back, bantering about my cooking skills and encouraging me to give up and order a pizza?

You betcha.

But how….?

Roger releases his bicep curl and hands me the glass of Chianti. “I was made by a seamstress sorcerer,” he explains while motioning me to sit at my kitchen table, whipping out a linen napkin and placing it on my lap. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/sorcerer-fantasy-structure-7175489/1tamara2

“She placed a charm that if anyone talked to me like I was a real man and said, ‘Honey, I’m home,’ I’d come alive. Like Pinocchio, but without the nose,” he adds with a self-deprecating grin on his handsome face.  

I’m charmed. And lonely, and despite some misgivings, I invite him to sit at the table. “Do you eat anything other than pizza?” I ask.

“Yes, if you’re not the one cooking,” he answers. We both laugh, and dig in.

book heart

Thanks to all of you for helping me write the ending to “Honey I’m Home.” I used many of your suggestions, like making an inanimate object, animated. To love and pizza and imagination. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY.

95 thoughts on “Honey, I’m Charmed!”

    • THANKS, Bernadette. I tried to get the spy connection in there too (many readers guessed Roger was a spy in the last post) but nope, the pizza boy toy was insistent that the only person he spied on was Donna! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Awww. A seamstress sorcerer! Lol. I love it (especially since that’s the main character in my WIP!). You wove together a fun story, Pam. Magic and romance, and pizza! Now I’m hungry. Happy Weekend, my friend.

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  10. A perfect resolution to part 1.

    I like how magic is often part of the secret sauce in your stories. That, and romance with pizza for Valentines’s.

    Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your guy, Pam!  😀

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks, Marian. As I stewed on the secret sauce of this story recipe a few days ago, my guy and I dined on pizza. A great inspiration. Tonight? Leftover …. pizza. 😉 Hope you and Cliff have a terrific Valentine’s Day and that your plants are thriving.

      Liked by 2 people

  11. Wow–I never expected that conclusion but it fits beautifully! Hubby and I always share a pizza on Valentine’s as that’s what we ate when we first met. . . .Happy Valentine to you and your Hubby, Pam! :)

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  13. That was a fun story, Pam. You had me thinking, yes, that would be nice, and then in the next second, I was thinking, “But she’s ready for the looney bin.” Then I’d remember it was fiction and even more than fiction – it was fantasy. Or was it? Now I know who is the one ready for the looney bin. (And it’s not you.)

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    • THANKS so much for reading and commenting Bruce. NO, I had no idea that Friday was National Pizza Day. I was right on target without knowing I was on target! (The story of my life – ha.) Hope you had a great pizza night. Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours.

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  19. The teacher in me immediately thinks of one of children’s favorite topics around Christmas—Elf on the Shelf. Hmm, I wonder if Roger can put “pizza boy toy” on his resume.

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    • Funny, Pete. I think some parents wish they could keep their kids’ elf on the shelf all year long, since they use it kind of like blackmail (“better be good… the elf is watching”). My daughter used the elf to good use. Some of my friends thought it was too creepy. Roger? Not creepy at all. 🙂 And yes, a great starter for his resume. But I have a feeling Donna will keep him around forever. ❤

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    • OH my gosh, thank you for this comment because I know I’m a bit strange, or at least the stories that come forth. But hey, how can we go wrong with love and pizza?? Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  36. I loved the ending, Pam. Roger came across as so life-like, and I think many of us like to believe that our treasured toys have a life of their own and are watching over us. And you know, pizza is delicious and sets a good atmosphere 😊

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