My Spanish-speaking friend Luz queries the difference between roost and nest. I explain the divergent sleeping arrangements of chickens and songbirds.
Luz asks if she can ask another question.
Go nuts, I say. A pause, a wrinkled brow. Go nueces? Walnuts?
I can’t explain why hard-shelled edible kernels connote extreme excitement or anger or why that’s also true of bananas.
What’s the word, Luz asks with a soft sigh, for a dog leaving his hair on the couch?
Shed.
Luz frowns. Like the little garden building? For tools?
I nod.
English, Luz tells me, is not a serious language.
If you liked this, you might also like Who Freezes a Canned Ham?
Or perhaps you want to sling me a few bucks for a banana-walnut smoothie?
True of Bananas was first published on 3/15/23 at Scribes*MICRO*Fiction
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash