The Wedding Toast

A response to Deb Markanton's "Saturday Spunk" in Flashy Fiction:

Mike raised his glass, "And lastly, I'm thankful for the Witness Protection Program and the Cheney/Bush White House without whose help the happy couple would still be predator and prey." Mike sipped his champagne and only then realized that he may have committed a gaffe. The reception hall was silent, faces like white slate stared at him. They didn't know. "Let us drink to the happy couple." Champagne glasses clinked together in ones and twos echoing a loneliness and then more glasses clinked as the gathered friends cheered the happy couple.

Mike hurried back to his seat all too conscious that people stared at him. Even at his table, his friends gaped at him. It was Tony -- of course, he wanted the gossip -- who was the first to speak.

Tony asked, "What was that all about?"

They might as well know, they were friends after all. It couldn't hurt the happy couple could it? "Did any of you know McKenzie or Donald prior to February 11th, 2006?"

"What does that have to do with it?" asked Tony.

"You're right," said Kathy, "It is strange. No one here grew up with either the bride or groom. No childhood friends, no family standing at the ceremony."

"Except for me," said Tony. "Do any of you remember Kenzie, my cocker spaniel?"

"Yeah," said Kathy, "Didn't she run away in the winter of 2006.

"Exactly."