Page 30 - Billy Graham in Heaven

The Gulf Love
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while his hands weaved a wizard incantation. Instead of a dove a crow soared into view, its shiny, dirty wings rippling raggedly in the wind. Cathy’s full lips shaped into an amazingly slow-forming smile which took several moments to reach its full radiance.
The wind died. The two lay on the ground and looked up at the sky. Jake felt pretty good. He, mainly a trust-fund bum, was out with Cathy, a high-powered lawyer.
Whenever Jake had a good interaction with an attractive woman, he got lots of work energy. His job, such as it was, was to inform Asheville of his opinions using satire. It was effective because it could masquerade as stark fact but still be a joke for those who got it.
The energy Cathy supplied helped Jake visualize an article he’d been writing for the local liberal weekly, The Blue Ridge Speedster. He soon went into an intense revelry which caused Cathy, the view, and the world to drop away. It was replaced with a kaleidoscope of information he’d been reading about the battles.
“Animals, that’s the ticket,” thought Jake. “Most of the U.S. Air Force is named after animals. Wild Weasel and Raven planes fired Sidewinder, Sparrow and Shrike missiles. Shrikes are medium-sized grey-and-white birds with hooked beaks that impale their prey on thorns. Now they’re also missiles that lock onto enemy radar, impaling their radar dishes with high explosives.”
He chuckled to himself and looked at Cathy. “How does she have that silly nick missing from her nostril and still look as shining as Audrey Hepburn and sophisticated as Lauren Bacall?” he wondered with pleasure. His mind flicked quickly back to war.