Christmas Cookies: Sideways Glance
by Camille AnthonyA heated sideways glance from a handsome suntanned hunk sparks a desire in Cheryl to celebrate life. She’s black, and doesn’t mind that he’s white. Together, they burn up the sheets, sharing a steamy, toe-curling afternoon before her job interferes and they go their separate ways.
Six months passes before Cheryl sees Paul again. This time, he’s back with an angry father at his side. Seems Paul left something out of his introduction. He’s an Apteran, a virgin alien whose sideways glance was a shy proposal of marriage. The results of their summer fun just pressed the perfect outline of a tiny foot against his daddy’s belly.
Shocked, Cheryl discovers she’s been cast as the “Playa” in this Baby’s Mama Drama!
I got a kick out of this short, holiday story. “Holiday” as the main character, Cheryl, celebrates Kwaanza more so than Christmas. It was a short read, very short, and I finished it quickly. The situations were ones we’d all read about, heard about, heck even experienced. Except… they weren’t. Everything was in a different perspective than what most of us have become accustomed to. That was a pleasant surprise.
The characters were funny, and a little raunchy and struck sparks off of each other. Cheryl has no problem telling it like it is, sometimes to the point of overkill. Paul knows how to get her engines revving, and “speaks her language” and isn’t afraid to get dirty with her. They both enjoy each other and then somehow part ways. We don’t find out exactly what happens as we jump from their time together to six months later. Let the drama ensue.
I generally have a harder time with short stories because, if it’s good I want it to be longer. I want more, always more. More development, more relationship, just more! You don’t get that with a short story, but you do get fun, usually. This story was written in first person, from Cheryl’s perspective and I did have some issues with the storytelling. That is what it felt like: storytelling. The way you would describe an encounter with someone to an outside party. I enjoy a story so much more when and author “shows” me what happened, not recites what happens. Don’t get me wrong, the story came across great, bumps and all. I especially like how different from Earthlings the Apterans are. The roles are reversed: the woman is the head of household, always: the man does the housework and all the other “woman” stuff. I can’t really say more, but I enjoyed having the tables turned on a man for once. All in all, I was entertained by this short story and thought it was great for a quick holiday read.
Reviewed by: Viscaria
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