Gene: “My dear, I only have eyes for you.”
Judy: “Well, I’ll have to take your word for it, because when you’re this close, I can only see one eye, so I don’t know what the other one is doing…”
Gene: “Rest assured that my eyes are faithful. Trust me.”
Judy: “Trust is a rare thing in this town. And how do I know that you actually want me and not my dress? I’ve heard the rumors, you know.”
Gene: “I’ve heard them as well. After all, I’m a male dancer who likes to twirl and one day I will don a sailor suit and frolic with an animated mouse. Most people have limited imaginations and it’s easier to categorize rather than try to understand. If the ballet slipper fits, that sort of thing. But I’m only interested in women. And I love making them happy.”
Judy: “And I love being happy. But I have to be careful, you know. I haven’t done so well with the men in my past. I used to be hasty when I picked out what I wanted for dinner, so to speak, but now I read the whole menu.”
Gene: “Good plan. And I hope that I can be the entrée you keep coming back to until you finally order it. I have a lot of tasty ingredients.”
Judy: “Well, you’re certainly taller than Mickey Rooney.”
Gene: “So is most everyone. Love may have found Andy Hardy, but Height certainly didn’t.”
Judy: “And are you taller in other ways?”
Gene: “My, my. You seem a bit saucy.”
Judy: “I’ve been on the sauce since that whole ‘Wizard of Oz’ mess.”
Gene: “Was is a trying time?”
Judy: “Go back and watch the movie again. Do you really think that anyone on that sound stage was sober? But enough about that. How about we go somewhere and see if you can find my yellow brick road? Maybe you can do some manly leaping over the poppy field before I open the emerald gates.”
Gene: “I’m getting taller by the second just picturing it.”
Judy: “Oh? Will an increased undercarriage affect the aerodynamics of your leaping? Because I’ve very invested in such, the leaping. I keep going back to that image on the dessert menu.”
Gene: “It’s never been an issue before.”
Judy: “Splendid. Signal the waiter to bring the check and we’ll finish this meal somewhere else.”
Gene signaled. Judy glowed. Gene signed the check. Judy glistened. Gene led the way to the restaurant door, performing a flawless pirouette as he did so. Judy, gushing, attempted the same maneuver but did not quite get there. (We all have different skill sets.) No matter, it had been a lovely evening and nothing could stop them now. Until they opened the door.
Gene: “Well, damn. It’s pouring down rain. We’re bound to get soaking wet.”
Judy: “I think one of us is already there. Besides, after all those movies I made with Short Mickey, I’ve learned that the show must go on, even if you have to do it in a barn with mooing livestock. Why don’t we just sing and dance our way to my apartment?”
Gene: “Singing and dancing in the rain? Nobody is going to take that seriously.”
Judy: “Oh, I think it just might work out for you. Tonight and in the future. Ready to leap, Mr. Manly Man?”
Gene: “Always.”
They joined hands and raced into the darkness as an unseen orchestra began playing an overture…
Previously published, considerably revised and extended.
Categories: Past Imperfect
Bonnywood Manor 
You’re a saucy little flower aren’t you! Not even veiled! I love it! Go Heavy, go heated like an electric kettle, go, go, go Brian go brian go brian sexy you hot shizah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve always been a saucy little flower, doing my best to keep my petals vibrant despite the wilting heat of my hothouse experiences. We do what we can, and we salvage the bits that didn’t make it… 😉
LikeLike
Ha ha …
Hey Brian, how are you going with your manuscript? Have a nice start to your week! Jeanine
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Jeanine,
I’m actually making considerable progress with my manuscript, with many of the stories moving from questionable rough-draft status to possible completion. How goes it with you?
B.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Considerable progress sounds fanatastic! That’s great.
I sent a random chapter to my writing friend and exposed myself to feedback 🙂 It’s feels like I’m over the hump. Too much work put it to turn back now. My aim is to finish a rough draft by the end of the year. Fingers crossed …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Singin’ in the Rain is still one of my favourite movies of all time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mine, too. I’m a firm believer that we would all be better off if more people took the time to dance spontaneously in inclement weather… 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
That first line – thank you. I always wondered how the duo in movies who are so closely placed facially can see anything at all without getting cross-eyed. I feel better that the thought has crossed someone else’s mind too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right? The love scenes depicted in movies are SO not about what actually happens. In real life, we fumble and scramble and do our best to not look too ridiculous as we careen our way toward a vague and elusive sense of accomplishment… 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
After singing and dancing in the rain, they were soaked anyway, so we can imagine that leaping into Gene’s pool was the next unseen scene. Damn censors!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So much of our history has been reduced to excised celluloid tumbling to the floor in the Editing Room… 😉
LikeLike
Gene and Judy are my all time faves! #jugenea forever! xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
If only we had more of them today, yes? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Expandable ‘tent’ poles are always useful for something. So, apparently, are those elastic waistband/crotch affairs in trousers. I’m sure Gene appreciated freedom of movement for his twig and berries. I mean spandex (tights) are so CONSTRICTING…
LikeLiked by 1 person
If only all of our attempts at expansion weren’t restricted by things out of our control. It would be a different planet, yes? I’m not saying good or bad, I’m just saying…
LikeLike
Judy, watering up; ‘Jeez, Gene, you take my breath away.’
Gene, looking at camera; ‘Not brushing with Kolynos- it’s the kiss of death for romance.’
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, The Kolynos Paradigm. It gets you every time. (And it sounds like a movie concerning international espionage that I would certainly watch…)
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘The Kolynos Paradigm.’ That sounds like an episode from the old ‘Man From UNCLE’ series.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, instead of Judy Garland, Gene Kelly ended up torturing Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain. He pushed her HARD. She came up to him at a party once and he said, “I’m surprised you’re speaking to me”…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was AT that party, and the confrontation was a bit uncomfortable. But then somebody whipped out a bottle of very good gin, and all of us agreed to not speak of the scene anymore. Except, apparently, you… 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
DON’T CENSOR ME!!! I saw what I saw. The things Tony Randall has done would curl your hair…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I remember reading something about Judy Garland taking different prescriptions drugs that the studio wanted her to take.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The studios were terrible in those days, completely controlling. Then again, we all make choices, right?
LikeLike
“Oh? Will an increased undercarriage affect the aerodynamics of your leaping?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, that went off to reply-land on its own. Are we sure it’s not still Halloween?
But what I really wanted to say is that that line almost made me choke. There I was, in a meeting, supposed to be paying attention but sneaking some Lageose instead, and trying to smother the biggest guffaw ever. I had to turn off my Zoom screen. Wonderful. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is what I live for, my tiny bits of wordplay striking just the right chord with savvy readers. You complete me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t take my eyes off Judy’s dress. It repels and delights me. I want to own one exactly like it, but find it hideous at the same time.
Ummm… what were we talking about? Nevermind. I think one of my “loose screws” finally fell out. I’ll just hush now🤐🤐🤐
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in the exact same boat. That dress is mystifying yet mesmerizing. It’s so intricate, but it looks so uncomfortable and… not right. I tried to work the dress into the story, but I just didn’t know what my writerly muse was telling me…
But please, never hush. Your more-than-welcome comments always delight me…
LikeLiked by 1 person