Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Since Charlie can’t eat corned beef and I’m on a diet, we may have to celebrate the day with a blighted potato. Yeah, not really funny.
ANYWAY, today I’m sharing an excerpt from one of the stories in my Lonnie and Tiny collection, LONNIE, ME, AND…: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION. The story I’m sharing a bit from is “Lonnie, Me, and the Battle of St. Crispin’s Day,” which features an Irish-American priest.
In Honor of the Day
excerpt from “Lonnie, Me, and the Battle of St. Crispin’s Day”
by Marian Allen
“Hey, buddy,” I said.
He jumped so hard, the thing flew up out of his hands and tumbled through the air. He snatched at it but missed and the thing landed plump on the couch cushion beside him.
“Dang it, Tiny!” He grabbed the thing and rubbernecked between inspecting it for damage and glaring up at me. “I coulda broke my smart phone!”
I would have thought giving Lonnie Carter a smart phone was about like giving a banana to a cat, but he sat me down and showed it off and seemed to know how to work it.
“And you know,” he said, “you and me has had some laughs about this Facebook thing, but Leona got me onto it and who do you think friended me?”
“Lady Goo-ga.”
Leona came in with a cup of coffee for each of us, said, “Lady Goo-ga?” and went back into the kitchen.
I gave up. “Well, who was it?”
“Daniel Halloran.”
“Daniel…. Daniel….” The name was ringing a bell, somewhere in there. “Danny Halloran? Dime-Store Danny? King of the Five-Finger Discount?”
“That’s the one! And guess what he’s doing?”
“Ten to twenty for grand larceny?”
“No, he’s a priest! Father Dan is what they call him. And guess where he’s priesting?”
Lonnie r’ared back on the couch and bobbed his head in encouragement, but I was all done guessing for the day. “I don’t know, Lonnie. Tell me.”
“Saints Crispin and Crispinian. And guess what day it’s getting to be.”
It was a day I hadn’t thought of for over twenty years, but Lonnie had harked me back, and I knew right away what he meant.
“St. Crispin’s Day,” I said.
~*~
Buy LONNIE, ME, AND….
Or you can buy LONNIE, ME AND THE HOUND OF HELL, which contains the first Lonnie and Tiny story plus about nine other of my odd animal stories, for 99 cents.
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write about a festival you remember from childhood.
MA
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
March 17, 2019 at 3:23pmThey had corned beef last night, and shepherd’s pie (which was delicious); the Sunday brunch had corned beef hash – quite good.
The advantage of a place like this is that they celebrate EVERYTHING (three kinds of beer, including Guinness last night) – so all you have to do is show up. Rather fun. I never had corned beef on St. Pat’s day before.
Marian Allen
March 17, 2019 at 4:51pmUm, yum! Imma come out there, too!
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
March 17, 2019 at 5:44pmI would be honored! We have guest beds (one twin, one twin XL) and a guest bathroom. Also guest suites if you’re serious about checking the place out, but those may or may not cost and are highly dependent on availability. Are you serious?
Marian Allen
March 18, 2019 at 9:11amOh, no, I’m just dreaming. Just California dreaming. But bless your sweet heart! <3