Butter Fingers

Rebecca nervously cut the turkey with her brand new carving knife. Once finished with the light meat she allowed herself to momentarily gaze down the packed banquet table at familiar faces. After a second or two she wiped the sweat from her brow and returned to the bird.

She had been craving the turkey for what felt like hours. Her new knife had been discounted, and now she knew why. It was dull as a butter knife. She made eye contact with a panicky Larry, her date, who had been making strained conversation with her father.

She tried to convey her message to him through that brief eye contact. Larry gave no outward sign of understanding, but quickly pulled out a short big sharp knife.

Larry had many hobbies. His most recently acquired hobby happened to be knife juggling. He tossed his knife into the air to the sound of an audible gasp.

Since he thought he'd been alone, the gasp made Larry jump in fright. Now, he could do nothing but watch as the tossed blade slipped between the fingers of his outstretched hand.

And with that, Larry came to realize why his particular brand of barbershop schooling was known as ‘bladerunning’ to the elders. Scratching his chin and staring into the polluted Los Angeles sunset, Larry became at peace with his chosen destiny. Whence would the blade run next?