“You Need a Hat”
with a turned-up nose, and rather turned-in legs- got to the edge of a very big wood
- Oh God, Paul. Elevators!
- a circular muddy mark
- We can have the ceremony at once
Tune in next time part 371 Click Here for Earlier Installments
“You need a hat,” Fleur said. “Contrarian generals always have hats.” She deftly folded her white linen napkin into an origami hat that rather resembled a paper boat. “Perfect!” She held it aloft. “We can have the ceremony at once.”
“But a white hat,” said Harry. “Surely not.”
“Quiet, Harry,” Fleur said. “You’re just upset because my husband will outrank you.”
Harry pouted froggily under Isolde’s doting gaze.
Fleur directed me to kneel, plopped the napkin hat on my head, and used coffee grounds to make a circular muddy mark on my lapel. “This insignia shows your rank, General. Congratulations.”
I bowed my head to kiss her hand, careful not to let my hat slip off. I felt rather ridiculous in my new getup, like a country bumpkin arriving in the big city for the first time. The type of rube who would be amazed by the most mundane things. “Oh God, Paul. Elevators! Like in the movies!” That sort of thing.
“Ooo Harry!” Isolde cooed. “You should buy your commanding officer a drink!”
With a prodigious scowl, Harry stood from the table and marched across the restaurant until he got to the edge of a very big wooden bar that was on the opposite side of the fountain from where we were seated. He returned shortly with a turned-up nose, and rather turned-in legs that accentuated his toad-like qualities. With a curt salute he handed me a tall glass full of a frothy green substance. It didn’t smell like anything I’d ever encountered before. Could I trust that he wasn’t trying to poison me?
bonus points for using them in reverse order