The Jaguar Journal 2013-2014

yours. Come on, honey. This is just a misunderstanding. We got angry, had our quarrel, and now we gotta settle things. Please, Maggie. Won’t you come home?

For me? For dear Richard?”

“Alright! Alright! I suppose it was just a mix-up anyway. I said things that weren’t true about you, Richard. I’m sorry. You make me feel special everyday. I declare! I didn’t even know you liked my pie that well! Makes me want to enter it in that fair! What do you say, Richard? Will you forgive me? I promise to always respect you and not be such a spendthrift. We’ll eventually collect enough money to head out to California. Try our fortunes at sifting for gold! What do you say, Richard? Won’t you marry me again, dear?”

“Why of course, Maggie!” Richard yells ecstatically. “You don’t even have to ask me!”

Richard suddenly embraces Maggie, lifts her off the floor, and twirls her about the judge’s office like a fluttering dandelion in a warm breath of summer air. After a few moments, the couple stands before the judge looking bashful, but content. Mr. Morris chuckles and appears tickled to death. He shuffles across the room, grinning uncontrollably and reaches for the “Certificate of Marriage” lying in an adjacent drawer beside his desk. The couple signs their names, thank the judge, and hurriedly cross the room chattering about apple pie and their hopes and dreams for the future. As they leave, Mr. Morris gazes out the dusty window at the couple now heading towards Martha’s, the local restaurant across the street.

“Like I always say,” Morris says approvingly, patting his bulging plaid waistcoat, “Apple pie does big things for the stomach, but even bigger things for the soul. It not only warms the inside, but also the spirit.”