Minky and Walter
It was love. Love at First Sight, as a matter of fact, and that, Walter thought to himself, was something that happened so very rarely nowadays, outside of storybooks and fairytales at least. Walter had gone to the party reluctantly. Reluctance was his usual attitude towards social gatherings that did not involve model train sets or particularly unusual insects. He used to be a carefree social butterfly but the years spent working hard towards obtaining his PhD in Entomology had taken their toll on Walter’s more outgoing side. When you spend your days examining the breeding cycle of the long-nosed weevil, you tend to want to keep your nights for sleeping and filing copious amounts of notes, rather than boogieing on down at the local dancehall. However, go to the party he did, even if it was under the duress of his second cousin Edgar who had recently designated himself as resident saviour of Walter’s social life. The first half an hour or so had gone as expected. Edgar stood by Walter for all of two minutes before chasing after the attractive red head who worked in the local newsagency, whilst Walter nursed his lemonade quietly in the corner. Walter was staring down into the bottom of a soon to be empty glass; he tipped his head back to scull the remains when over the rim he saw… Her.
Tall and slender with a devastatingly chic bob and clad in a floor length skirt, Minky, as he would soon know her, looked up at the same moment and in one cinematically serendipitous event her eyes found his across the crowded room. He blushed, just slightly. She smiled a charmingly tilted grin with ever-so-slightly too large and vaguely crooked front teeth. What perfect imperfection! Angels began to chorus above Walter’s head and without moving his feet, he found himself gliding across the room, the mass of people parting like a pair of smoothly installed curtains, opening to let the sunlight shine in on a warm summer’s morning.
Looking back on that first evening, Walter would insist that they had conversed thoroughly and enjoyably about a wide variety of topics but the gentle kiss she whispered onto his cheek as the night ended blew any recollection of said conversation away with the wind. Instead he departed with three things:
1. A phone number scribbled on the back of an old receipt for groceries. He happily noted the absence of insect repellent.
2. A slightly pink smudge on his cheek from where her lips had lingered and left a lipstick trail behind.
3. The feeling that She, Minky, was the girl that he, Walter, had spent his life longing for and waiting for but being too scared and shy to actually go out and search for. He hoped that she felt the same way.
The next three months were bliss. Walter and Minky went everywhere together. They were a whirlwind of hand holding, cheek to cheek dancing and long walks whilst they kissed in the rain. Minky shared Walter’s love of jumping in deep, deep puddles and did not seem to mind that her invariably floor length skirts would end up soaked to her knees. Walter had already beginning to plan out the rest of their lives together, and had begun saving up his pennies to buy Minky the most beautiful ring to surprise her with. Not a diamond. Minky liked purple. Walter would buy Minky an amethyst.
Before Walter and Minky could arrive at the amethyst portion of their relationship Minky had something to tell Walter. One Tuesday afternoon she telephoned Walter.
“Walter? Can you please come to tea at my house tonight?” Minky said. Walter was worried. Minky’s tone of voice was a notch more serious than he would have liked, however he agreed to meet her at a half past six that evening.
When half six found itself ticking around, Walter found himself standing on the doorstep to Minky’s house, grasping a bunch of violets that had begun to whither within the tight grasp of his hot and nervous hands. Eventually he rang the bell.
“It’s open!” Minky called. Walter entered the house and made his way through the hallway. He entered the dining room and found Minky sitting behind the table. Walter stuck out his fist.
“These are for you.”
Minky smiled slightly. “Thank you. Could you just, put them on the table for me?”
Walter’s face dropped. “ Sure, Minky.” He quickly placed down the flowers and sat down. He needed to sit. His knees had started to jitter and jiggle. As he watched his own knees jump about, his eyes travelled across until he noticed something new. Minky’s knees. Usually clad beneath layers of long skirts, her long legs were now on display. “Ankles… Special occasion?” Walter idly mumbled.
“That’s sort of what I needed to speak to you about.” Minky bit her bottom lip, “I really like you Walter, in fact, I love you. I loved you as soon as I saw you, but I need to tell you something before our relationship can continue.”
“What?” Walter whispered.
Minky slowly stood up from behind the table, and Walter discovered the reason for her long skirts, from beneath this new short style hung a long thin furless tail. And that was when Walter realised that his beloved ‘Minky’ was, in fact, a common sewer rat…
