Dannie found the earrings in a costume jewelry shop at Wiers beach. She had never seen anything like them before and had to have them. The earrings were square with red lips on both sides. The image changed from a full-mouth pout to a kiss when they moved back and forth on your ears. Back and forth, a pout, a kiss, a pout, a kiss. It reminded her of a toy that you would get in a Cracker Jack box that had a picture of a train on a cardboard square and when you moved it, the train looked like it was moving. Dannie loved her new earrings and decided to wear them to a party that night.
She didn’t know many people at the party since she was tagging along with a friend who had another friend who was going. It was crowded with so many people and the majority were her age. Dannie was sure others were as self-conscious as she was and she tried to relax.
Soon after arriving, her friend wandered off with a few other people she knew and Dannie was left sitting among a group of young women who were talking about make-up, their boyfriends, or a new outfit they just bought. They seemed friendly and soon included Dannie in the conversation. One of them noticed her kissing lips earrings right away and exclaimed how much she loved them. She asked if she could try them on. Dannie, wanting always to please and appear friendly, agreed to let her see them up close and naively took the earrings off, handing them to the woman. At that moment another woman came over and sat next to Dannie asking who she came with, if she knew the woman who lived in the apartment, what she did for work and a few other engaging questions. She seemed genuinely interested in Dannie.
By the time Dannie looked up, the woman she had handed her earrings to was gone and the woman who seemed to be interested in her had also quickly disappeared. Along with her special kissing lips earrings.