Goines On: Chocolate and tomato

Click image for more vignettes

The Goineses had a neighbor who brought them huge, sweet tomatoes from his garden. The neighbor brought with them the sweetest smiles of neighborliness, too, so sweet, Goines knew, that only an offer of chocolate in return might do for thanks.
    “Hershey’s milk chocolate,” Goines texted him, “or Toblerone?”
    The neighbor said chocolate wasn’t necessary, but if Goines was trying to turn over his stockpile, he preferred milk chocolate. “Just a little please,” he added.
    What was the earliest Goines should knock the next day, Goines texted back.    When Goines brought the Hershey’s bar by the next morning, another big, red-ripe tomato lay on the small metal table by the front door. He picked up the tomato and set the chocolate bar down in its place.
    He had already rung the doorbell when he realized that maybe the neighbor had meant for him to just leave the chocolate and not have to ring, so he started to leave after only a few seconds. But from the driveway he heard the door open and turned around.
    “I take it you meant for me to have that tomato?” Goines called out.
    The neighbor had already picked up the giant chocolate bar, and his smile was as big and sweet as ever.
    “You could eat just one of the sixteen rectangular pieces a day, you know,” Goines said, smiling hugely himself.
    “If you can,” the neighbor said.
    “That’s what Mrs. Goines does,” Goines said, more grinning slyly now than smiling.
    The neighbor seemed pleased, and Goines was happy.

Copyright © 2020 by Moristotle