The Saga of Rod and Debbie - A very short story

Rod looked down and kicked the snow with the tip of his boot.    Debbie stood near him, also looking down.    Her arms were folded, with her hands jammed into her armpits, trying to keep them warm (her hands, not the armpits).    Finally, Rod cleared his throat.

"Well, I guess I'd better be going." he said quietly, still looking down.

Debbie looked up at him.    She didn't want him to leave but she was tired of trying to convince him to stay.

"I'm gonna miss you." she whispered.

Rod looked up and focused on her face.    Why did she have to say that?    Of course, she was going to miss him.    He struggled to think up an appropriate response.

"I know you will." he said plainly.

Debbie could feel her eyes getting wet.    Rod noticed it too.    He felt uncomfortable when Debbie cried.    He'd been uncomfortable often over the past few weeks.

"Debbie, don't cry." he said.

His words only made Debbie well up even more.

"He still cares" she thought, "He still cares!"

Rod repeated himself, "Debbie, don't cry.    It's 30 below, your face will freeze up."

Debbie managed a tight smile and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.    She was just tucking her hands back into her armpits when Rod put his hand on her shoulder.    She started to open her arms for a hug, but Rod was already pulling his hand away.

"G'bye Debbie." Rod said as he turned and walked to his truck.

Debbie stood in the cold and watched as Rod drove away.    As his truck disappeared around the corner, she turned to go inside.    She could feel the tears coming again and she started to sob.    When she sniffled, the hairs inside her nose instantly froze.    She smiled to herself.    Rod was right.    He always knew about stuff like that.

In the decade that followed, Debbie never saw Rod.    But every time she was out in the cold and the inside of her nose froze, she thought of him fondly.    Her friends had a lower opinion of Rod but they didn't mention this to Debbie.    Amongst themselves they agreed that it was perhaps fitting that Debbie remembered Rod this way since he had always seemed to be a cold snot to them.

Soon after they parted, Rod moved to Phoenix, where his nose never freezes.    He thought very little about Debbie over the years.    In fact, he had forgotten about her completely until the "Friend Request" appeared on his Facebook page.    He was thankful that there was a picture or he might not have been able to place her at all.    As he absently stroked his new hair plugs, the memories slowly began to surface...Minnesota....cold...she thought things were serious, he didn't....her snotty friends.    Rod stared at the request.    Did he really want this person as a friend?    What would be the point?    More importantly, what message would it send to her?    Rod reasoned that the smart thing would be to ignore this request.    Eventually, he thought smugly, she'll get over the Rodster (Rod had only recently changed his personal private monicker from "the HotRod" to "the Rodster".    He was happy to have the opportunity to think it now).    On the other hand, he thought, it might be nice to have a Facebook friend who wasn't also a relative.

(To be continued...)