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Contest 05 - Sarah Eddenden
"Red & White"
DOOBIE:
He smelled of flannel. Bottled flannel.
STAN:
I'm a winger. Number 27. Just like Sittler.
DOOBIE:
It was the best school for massage therapy. Hockey players are only
just seeing the advantages of massage therapy on aching muscles.
STAN:
He comes in with a set of matching luggage. Then his parents come in
and they matched too. He shook my hand. I told him I play my music loud
and don't bug me when I'm in the can.
DOOBIE:
The first game I went to, I noticed the polar bear on the ice. The Mascot.
The person who was inside the polar bear it turned out was leaving soon
(family emergency) and they needed a polar bear so I said to a few people,
maybe I could do it. I took skating lessons for five years, even though
that was a while ago, but it's like riding a bike, right? And they discussed
it amongst themselves and it was me or this second year sports therapy
student. Except that student had made some big boner mistake over frosh
week by not wearing red and white to a rally and here I was wearing
my red and white striped scarf and the white Icelandic sweater my mother
made for me with the red trim and my red mitts and they said It's you.
STAN:
He kept the costume in our room.
DOOBIE:
It's hot inside a polar bear's head.
STAN:
There was this girl named Naomi who'd been trying to get my attention
all frosh week, saying things like Wingers are Dingers and twenty seven
is my lucky number. She wanted me.
DOOBIE:
That first game I was mascot, everyone went out for beers after. I'd
been sweating like a pig in a polar bear costume so I stopped off at
the room first and stretched him out on my bed.
STAN:
We passed him as he came out. In his freshly ironed Gap tee shirt. Naomi
was touching me and giggling and calling me Darryl and suddenly I started
thinking you're an idiot. Then I saw it lying there, reeking of him,
like it'd just died.
DOOBIE:
It was midnight, I had an early class. I split. When I got to my
dorm room door, I heard something like maybe muffled grunting. There
was a girl. On Stan's bed. Doing it with my polar bear outfit. Except
the outfit was moving, one of the girl's hands was wrapped around the
bear's waist, sparkling green nails digging into white mascot fur, the
other grabbed at its red scarf. The polar bear head was tilted back,
nose to the ceiling. The bear screamed Score. The girl made crowd noises
and it was done. Then she saw me and she tapped the bear's nose.
STAN:
He was just standing there. Big stupid brown eyes. I get off - Nadia?
- and dropped the suit to the floor. Wondered if maybe I should have
it dry cleaned for him. Naomi was already out in the hall. She wanted
a drive home in my Camaro. He stuck his arms out at me. I thought he
was asking why. He just wanted the head back.
DOOBIE:
I watched them from the window. I held the bear suit. It smelled like
flannel. I watched as the car backed out onto the road, led them deeper
into the night.
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