Quirky Flash Fiction: 'Sunshine Yellow'

Once I closed the office door and was alone, I reached into my pocket for my phone and listened to the voicemail.

All the message had was street noise. Car tires on asphalt, people talking, and sirens.

"Hello? Hello? Marissa, is that you? Are you okay?"

I was separated from my wife at the time, but we were in the process of reconciliation. We saw each other on the weekends and talked on the phone daily. I also knew that Marissa was absent-minded. She often lost things, had a poor sense of direction, and made costly mistakes. I sometimes wondered if she had a death wish.

I feared something terrible had happened. When I was unable to get a response from Marissa, I knew something was wrong. Drama seemed to follow her everywhere. I phoned my daughter.

"Hello, Sara?"

"Oh, Dad. Did you get my texts?'

"I didn't get a chance to listen to them. I was in session."

"It's Mom."

"I thought as much."

"She was hit by a truck."

"A truck?" I said in disbelief. "What kind of truck? No, never mind. Just tell me if she was hurt badly?"

"She's in the hospital. But she says she's alright. A few bruises and a concussion."

"Oh, it could have been worse."

"She wants you to bring her something tonight."

"Sure, what is it?"

I assumed it was something to eat. She was a very picky eater, a vegetarian, and didn't trust most restaurant food, let alone hospital gourmet. Or maybe it was a change of clothes, or a book. She's a bookworm. She'd be bored in the hospital without a good novel to read.

Sara laughed before saying what it was.

"You won't believe this, Dad. Mom wants three new pairs of panties. And get this. She wants them all sunshine yellow. Not old ones. New ones. You have to buy them because I have to work tonight. She said that you know the size because you used to try on her panties as a joke and looked at the tag."

"Yellow panties? I didn't know they made them in yellow. The ones I've seen your mother wear were either white, red, or black."

"I've never seen yellow, either. But you know Mom. She said that when her panties are new, her outlook on life is more positive. And yellow will help her forget about the trauma of being hit by a truck by giving her energy and hope."

"Jeez. I never knew that a pair of cotton underwear had that much spiritual power."

"Dad. You're lucky she didn't tell you to get panties with butterflies. I'm sorry, but she needs them in a hurry. Please pick them up and drop them off at Saint Mary's Hospital."

"No problem," I said. "But where shall I buy them?"

"I'll find out from Mom and text you right back."

I was expecting a nice, quiet evening. Now I was on a secret mission that was full of danger and intrigue. Not to say complete embarrassment. I imagined asking the saleswoman in the Women's Department, "Excuse me, I'm looking for panties in a medium size. Oh, and they must be sunshine yellow."

Whatever response I get, I know I can handle it. If the saleslady thinks I'm a weirdo or a pervert, so be it. I'm on a mission to regain my wife's trust. I was determined to win her heart back. I just didn't know it would be with a pair of yellow panties.