The Pizza Delivery Boy - A new Canterbury Tale

 

The Pizza Delivery Boy’s Tale    (One of my ‘Revised Canterbury Tales)

 

      The Pizza delivery boy dismounted from his motorbike and took a pizza to the house where lived the girl who, on ringing in her order earlier had swept him off his feet with the very beauty of her voice. Contralto and mellifluous, it flowed into his head like the sound of the Lorelei, although he, being a mere pizza boy had never heard of them.

     Forgetting his feeble frame and his acne, he had snatched a Marguerite and full of hormonal hope, had run through the door and mounted his bike in one liquid movement.

     Late on this unpleasant night he had been glad that this was his last call and riding swiftly along Bayswater Road to Notting Hill, climbed the steps and rang the bell.

     The door was opened by a young woman of outstanding beauty who greeted him with a welcoming smile saying:

     'Come in out of the rain, I need to find you some money'

     He followed her in obediently, the carpet was air beneath his feet. Having shed the tinniness of the telephone, her voice was more beautiful than ever as she asked him if he'd like a glass of wine and a slice of her pizza, which she assured him, was far too much for her. Speechless, he managed to nod his assent.

     The girl returned with two glasses and the pizza now segmented on a plate. They sat, ate, and talked well into the night until he had drunk too much wine to drive home, not that is, that he wanted to anyway. The alcohol had smoothed his pustules and broadened the self-image of his puny body. He was a Prince - a Prince charming indeed.

     The girl sat opposite looking into his eyes seemingly enthralled.

     'Stay’, she pleaded.

      'Oh, that voice' he muttered to himself, ‘I'm hers’, but only managed to croak, 'O.K.'

     She led him up the stairs to a very feminine bedroom and lay on the bed gazing seductively at him, eyebrows aflutter.

     'Come to me,' she said.

     His feelings were in a whirl; never before had he been seduced and he liked it.

     'I am a giant,' he yelled, leaping upon her with a passion that was new to his virgin soul.

     Her arms went round him, their lips met as they kissed with abandon. It was then - and only then that he felt the stubble on her chin.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

You've done it again .. caught me out with a surprise ending!

I can't keep on putting the same comments... such a calm flow, characters rounded, twist to the end.. but, it happens to be true. You really have the knack of writing short stories and these days, there are so few really good writers of that genre.

Thank you so much for giving so much fun and, skilled writing to boot.

[Patient Poet (Yos)]

I loved this , thank you so much for sharing it on my contest, you might win lol ... YOSSI

[Faith Jones]

I laughed so much about this one! Chaucer would have, too!

[Lily1111]

I enjoy reading the works of O. Henry and adore a good surprise ending and you certainly didn't disappoint! I chuckled out loud as I read the last line. You have a remarkable way of bringing your stories alive with your descriptiveness.

[Gideon Jacob]

I must confess, I started reading this and felt that you'd somehow missed the mark. I was wondering when the twist was going to come. I have to say. It was well worth the wait! Literally a laugh out loud moment for me.
You've captured the slightly jovial mocking tone Chaucer acheived in the Tales quite well here I think. It's by no means perfect as, on the odd occassion, it felt like you tried a little too hard to the detriment to the story but overall you've acheived a great thing; I could easily imagine this being translated into Chaucer's middle English. All in all, I tihnk this is a very good modern Canterbury Tale! I really enjoyed reading it and the twist was fantastic. Good job!