Joan's Minor Sin

She could hear the desperation in her own voice and noticed how miffed Penny sounded, but Joan plodded along, collision course or not, she needed help. She needed resolution about the wedding and soon otherwise, she thought she might just loose her mind. Why, why, she might even just have to eat a piece of meat. She refused to think about it being animal flesh for just this moment. Instead, she thought of juicy, mouth-watering burgers and how long it had been since she actually had one. The memory flooded her taste buds and the salivation process began.

Then distaste settled in and she felt terribly guilty for even thinking about the notion. No, she had promised Zuleese that she would live a vegan life style. Oh, gosh, what if Zuleese found about her momentary lapse? Could she? No, of course not, not unless she was a mind reader, too, and that certainly was not out of the realm of possibilities. She was an Ancient after all and she did have the wisdom. If it was wrong to eat anything that had to do with living creatures, just thinking about it, desiring it, wanting it so bad that the mouth watered, that probably was a minor sin. There were no minor sins. Thinking was being and being was doing.

Perhaps she should call Rainey as opposed to Penny and maybe even admit to Rainey the whole burger lust incident. But Penny, despite her occasional crankiness was a lot less scary than Rainey and Rainey might never let her speak to Zuleese again. Joan liked Zuleese. She felt as if Zuleese were a grandmother she had never known. She was kind and wise, accepting and positive, holding out hope for humanity. She would be okay to talk to, though Joan feared this soul she revered might grow tired of the childish way Joan was insisting on handling the wedding.

And Joan needed a friend right now, someone with whom she could be girly, if not a tad materialistic-minded. Rainey was not exactly a friend; she was more of an advisor and the opposite of Zuleese. Rainey was human, Zuleese was not.