The Waitress by Jack zipes
The Waitress by Jack zipes
.
ress
ck o
ait faw
tt
w here
ne
it ow h w
She
rk neve
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ap ad h
pe
, bu ned
as o
a nce
cha
uck ir st
on
ba the
nd she a d e k uc , she b
kicked
els her he
mped u j e h . gled, s o show e She jig d o r a or se in h d l i After all, Marie was a small young w woman, somewhat on the skinny side. You might even call her frail or fragile. Perhaps that was because she was always running from table to table in the restaurant where she worked. Perhaps it was because she never had time to eat a good meal. Marie never thought about it. She just worked as hard as she could.
like a
But nothing she did could help poor Marie get the chair off her back.
ctor She went to the best do
body could help her. T
s, carpenters, detect
rs in all of Paris, but no ives, midwives, and plumbe
L PU {
ck
ba r. The chair stuck on her
ck because she might die.
of tearing it off her ba , and ever yone was afraid
L
At fir st M
arie
thought
she
looked li a humpb
ke
and she
ack,
ashamed
was
of her ch
air,
but the c h
was light feather, a
air
as a
nd
she could barely fe
el it.
something
Maybe
good
will
come
of
.
this
pssssst
Maybe if you dressed me up, you might learn a thing or two You can walk. Hey,
that’s not true.
Not anyone can. There are a lot of old people who can’t walk. What about babies?
What about people who have accidents?
What about people who are
born differently?
YOU CAN TALK!
Of course I can. Anyone can.
All right, all right, I get your point...
Well, if you get my point, get me dressed and
do something
about it. Something with frills, and I like colors like aqua blue, jasmine green, fire red, and chartreuse. Does it matter?
People see only what they want to see.
What would you like to wear?
Are you a girl?
Marie said it didn’t, and off she went with the chair on her back to the nearest department store. People didn’t seem to mind that she had a chair on her back, and Marie found that strange.
Can they see you?
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i
=== i l
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<><>< > < What now?
Well, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choose some material. And choose they did. There were all types of linen, silk, and cloth, and the chair nudged her to pick out pink, yellow, and blue flower patterns and then an intricate diamond shaped red, black, and green roll of wool, and finally she had to pick out soft feather pillows in different colors. The bill came to $500, and Marie told the chair there was no way she
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Look into your purse...
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could pay for all the materials.
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$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Oh!
$ $$ $ $ $ $$ $ $ Marie stuck her hand inside and pulled out ten one hundred dollar bills. She almost fainted.
Stop that and pay.
But what if somebody lost this money? What if it was stolen?
I told you, good things happen in strange ways.
Marie
hesitat
ed still
, but fin
ally she
paid an
d r ush
ed hom
e as fa
st as sh
e could
. As sh e en
tered h
er one
-room
apar tm
ent, sh
e almo
st s t
u
m
b
l
e
d over a se
wing m
achine
What’s this?
How do you think you’re going to make my outfits if you don’t have a sewing machine? But I can’t sew.
You can now. Try it
r
aid
A
r st Marie was a i f t f
of hu
r ti
ng
rha
vio
psod
d y, a n
cti
on
w
tt
he
ins
tr u
once d the n ma ch in
lin
nata o s .
a
h e n
she had finis
n
g
d, a
h the
y i n
wit
u b , needle
c a s rr a w e h S
re a
s
s if sh e s a w w a e a y r wa e d i i ep l a
were e asy to
he
rs elf
e
be
n a g
g n i m i t m u h
. . . d e h
od
seven ma rv e
us
lo
.
..s
he
d ha
pr
ed uc
ly
co
lou
red chair cover s.
h h h
h
h
h
h
Hey, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s do a fashion show! Marie could feel the arms of the chair picking up one of the outfits and slipping it on. When the chair gave a sign that it was ready, Marie strolled over to the bathroom and turned around and around so she could see the chair in the mirror.
Oh, you look beautiful!
“Thanks, but it was all you, and now we’ve got to get to work. To do what?
Well, you don’t think I’m going to let my looks and your talents go to waste ...
d o
y o u
? n a m e
o e p e s o k c h i t s e l r l ’ a y e h w t o e n s k u a u c e o b y t , l u o l e t W e k c g i t p ’ o n t a c g d n i n o a g e e r ’ e W hom . d l o m e r h o t d y e r l or disab , and you’ll car . Then p t u n a r m u e a t th s e r e h t o t e r e m h t o in h t i w e b they can a while and r o f e l p e peo h t n o l a e m have a e’ll call W . e s u o h e h t s e v oursel
‘
‘
a t h W
‘
‘
‘
e r ’ e ...w t a resr a t s e l o p t o e og ing service for p king. l t a n w a r tau have trouble t who a t i s o h w e l p
‘
G N I K L A W
! S D R A Z I W
But I can’t carry anyone on my back!
That’s different. You’re light. Or, at least I can’t feel you.
Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re carrying me
Trust me .
m
Well, Marie had no other choice, and she carried the chair to
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Marcel, We are going to expand your business.
m
r to Marcel, the owner of the restaurant where she worked.
hey you’re pretty cute
ot n s ’ Now
(For the chair was dressed in flaming red and yellow)
. g n i t r or fli
f e m the ti
Here’s what we propose...
French R
PRESE THE
Weird and W
W
‘‘
mons marc
A
N I K L
sieur rcelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant
SENTS
Wonderful
W
NG Z I
S D R A
No sooner did the three finish their conversation than Marie set out and arrived at the apartment of an old woman named Natalie. She was 85 years old, tiny like a mouse, and she rarely left her apartment
We
â&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve
c
because she had difficulty walking without a cane.
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e m da
, e i l a t Na
om
ec
t e
i o
t i nv
u o ey
! h c n u to l
N
ped o o t the ie s r n a i . M n ow cel’s han d r t a t d a i at M r sa an s e e m r n e o soo yw ld w e o h t No h he flas n. T a w do d in n A ir. cha
“Madame, it’s a pleasure. We shall be expecting you for lunch every day.”
The next stop for Marie and the chair was Fat Pierreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home He weighed close to 400 pounds. He was a young man, not more than thirty-five, but when his wife died suddenly, he went into a deep depression, stayed at home all day, watched tv and ate junk food.
Mo
n
No said ped e r ne stoo Pierr f o so arie ow sel m h i M n ome fit h d in a a h t n. S to An t a d ir. w do anage cha were m o the hey lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. t int ash arce M fl
u e is
P r
, e r ier
unch! ey
ou
to l
P
e m o We’ve c
n i to
iv t
“Madame, it’s a pleasure. We shall be expecting you for lunch every day.”
Off went Marie with the chair. This time they went to visit Liliane, who had been the brightest student in her class, but she had been hit by a car and had lost the use of one of her legs and refused to go to school anymore. Her mother tried everything from bribes to psychologists, but Liliane refused to move from her room. When Marie knocked the door opened and Lilianne’s mother showed her to her daughter’s room. Liliane’s eyes opened wide when she saw Marie with a chair stuck on her back, and she g i g l e d . g
In fact, she continued to giggle when she jumped into the chair and sped to Marcel’s restaurant
d We
’ve
co
m
Ma
, e n a i l i L e ! l h c l n u l e o s t i u o o y m e t e i v n i o t e
L
“Mademoiselle, it’s a pleasure. We shall be expecting you for lunch every day.”
Throughout the morning Marie and her chair sped through the neighborhood until twenty-one people were gathered at Marcelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
yL c e
for lunch. He had set up a special banquet room for his guests, and he cooked the most delicious specialities of the house.
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There was laughter and chatter. Almost all the people knew each other somewhat, but they were discovering they had so much in common that they made plans to do things with each other. They kept toasting Marcel and praising his cooking.
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The next day Marie and her chair did not arrive at the restaurant, nor did they go knocking on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doors.
cy N e t Pa BL
Nevertheless, all the people managed to show up a
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up at Marcelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restaurant, and they enjoyed themselves and kept meeting until the end of their days.
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As for Marie and her chair, it is difficult to remember what happened to them..
Some say they never existed.
But I for one donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe them.