Rowland Books Cynthia McClain

Ah, I remember it well...that night.  It was '67 or was it '68.  I can never remember for certain.  But I will never forget that night.  We were in Marrakech, a town whose name can't help evoke exotic spices and belly dancers.  We were sipping sherry languidly on the balcony of  the Grand Moroccan Hotel gazing out into the still warm desert night.  Sounds from the town below joined with the noise from the restaurant inside.

Katherine reached out to finger a sugared date that laid in a bowl on the table.  She looked intently at me, then said, "Shall we do it, then?"

My heart lurched within.  I hesitated.  We had contemplated this decision time and time again, yet it still seemed too soon. "Must we?" I replied. "We must," she answered resolutely.

Then with a flick of her finger she called the waiter over.  He was dark slight man with piercing black eyes.  "Waiter," said Katherine, "take our glasses away, please." 

The waiter looked surprised.  "But mademoiselle, you ladies have always drunk sherry."

"Not anymore.  We would like two glasses of port," said Katherine in a resolute voice.

So tonight, we are sitting here on the balcony in Marrakech, languidly drinking our port.  We have never changed our beverage of choice again, but ah... I can remember that night like it was yesterday.

Rowland Books Courtney Allison

My favorite memory of Kat happened a few weeks ago when we went out to get coffee. We were sitting at a table outside the café when we spotted a man across the street waving his arms and screaming in our direction. The man was clad in black from head to toe and wearing dark glasses. As he crossed the street we realized he was yelling at us. This scared the living daylights out of us so we immediately got up and ran in the opposite direction.

He was right behind us, screaming and waving a huge black bag. We cut down an alley and came upon a dead end. We tried every door until one finally opened, we quickly ran inside. The floor inside the room had no traction and we kept falling.

"What are we walking on!!?" Kat said. "I don’t think I want to know," I replied.

"Ouch! I stepped on something sharp!!" Kat turned on the light, and we realized we were walking on millions and millions of earrings. "Is this heaven?" Kat said quietly. She looked like a kid in a candy store. "OH MY GOODNESS!!! PINK POODLES!!!" she shrieked. "I HAVE to have these!!"

I could hear the door knob rattle and I tried to drag Kat into the next room. "But look at the dangly ones," she whimpered. I finally got Kat out of the earring room, through a hallway, and back on the street. "Come on," I said, "We have to get out of here." We crossed the street and saw the man again. I screamed.

The man said, "KATHERINE, STOP!!" We watched the man run up to us and realized it was Chris. He was carrying your purse. "You left this at home," he said, "I’ve been trying to catch up to you for miles!"

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