"Where the wild tapiocas grow, island life be kind a slow, swims in calm soothing flow; and for Thomas and I this change indeed be much needed," Lannie spoke into the light of sun rising from the sea. Sunbeams lit her auburn hair halo aglow. Her brown eyes smiled as riplet waves and white beach sand tugged at her toes. "No more faceless neighbors, no more concrete sidewalk myriads, not one tower of grey scraping scars into sunrise sky." Gentle island breeze caressed bare shoulders, danced in the hem of floral sarong, hugged the curves of her Garden of Eden like body. Her lips kissed sea salt air, "Please dear Lord above, in Jesus name I pray, help my Thomas to see the way."
But there sat Thomas a doubting in desk lamp woe; crunching numbers that crunched his soul. Thomas worrying much, accomplishing little, seeing desk top, seeing not thru open window precious wife framed in seaside sunrise glow. Fretting he was, fretting away that moment blessed on white sand shore; contemplating a move back to big city town and adding ad agency stress to relieve the stress of ill cash flow. And thus this muttering did Thomas Batach sow, "Why can Lannie not see the evitable cut low?"
Yet that later day noon in the kitchen, a yuca peeling Lannie and avocado preparing neighbor passed more than the time away... "Island delicacies are just too easy," a moppet haired Kim punctuated that said with a little grunt, as her baby bump bumped counter edge, thru avocado print T-shirt. She grasped avocado, traced around its ovalness with knife, split it apart, laid seed side up on counter.
"Your arms are barely long enough to reach that avocado," Lannied snickered.
"But us avocado farmers are a hardy breed." Kim slammed knife edge into avocado seed, grasped avocado half in palm, gave knife a twist. The seed stuck to blade. Kim set it aside, reached for spoon. With it she traced around the inside of peel, dolloped out avocado half in one smooth piece.
"You are one dangerous woman," Lannie smirked at her near poppin' pregnant pal, rendered her best Caribbean pirate imitation, "But I got carving of me own to do." She commenced yuca slicing for what she misnamed, "Avast yea tapioca fries."
"You have no idea what avast means, do you?" Kim chuckled.
"Not a clue," Lannie confessed, "but this captain of the kitchen be a saber welding pie-ratt and I'm a slicing me yuca asunder, then poking her to walk the plank into icy waters, to prevent discoloration of course. And also about to," she slashed last slice, "to par boil this stuff afore I fries 'er up in peanut oil."
"Poor yuca! Boiled in water, then fried in oil. Ouch!" Kim came aboard Lannie land. "Sounds like sweet culinary plan."
"Yeah, tasty plan, just pray Thomas finds one." Lannie's smile sagged a tad.
"Yeah, my guacamole is gonna be tasty." Kim smiled, hugged Lannie, whispered in her dear friends ear... "Have faith; do not fear."
And Lannie looked thru open window; saw two walking white sand shore... And Lannie smiled...
"Dude," Kim's husband, Bob, had a way with words, "Dude," Bob repeated, "so you are a few clam shells short of a reef. Wake up and smell the chowder."
"More like soon to smell the big city smog," Thomas grumbled.
"But Dude." Bob grabbed the arm of Thomas, half turned him to meet the half turn of his own.
Face to face, Thomas confided, "We are going to miss you guys, but I just don't see a way to stay."
"But Dude, have faith," Bob Bob-ismed, "like tapioca is like gold!"As he had spoken Bob's scraggly beach bleached hair and frayed straw hat had gone a floppin'.
"Just what did you season that chowder with?" Thomas truly wondered.
"Tapioca, its tapioca, tapioca is your answer." Bob nodded head like a dash board bobble head on country gravel road.
"Tapioca is a dessert." Thomas doubted, yet sensed his friend meant well.
"Tapioca pearls are made from what?" Bob struck mental match.
"The processed yuca root of the cassava plant?" Thomas knew, but connected not tapioca pearls to cash flow dots.
"Dude, when you moved here, you bought a neglected, dilapidated yuca farm. Remember when you first moved here Lannie thought the roots were sweet taters and you thought the tops were weeds?" Bob reminded. then ismed, "Well you got yuca all over the place, can you dig? I mean like literally dig; as in harvesting."
"There is money in tapioca?" Thomas ran hand thru short dark hair.
"Dude, tapioca is like just one yuca product. Sure you got your grocery shelf tapioca pearls in all sorts of tasty flavors, but there is also yuca flour for baking, yuca syrup for that baked, yuca industrial and pharmaceutical applications and even livestock feed. Dude, like yuca is like the giant peanut of the Caribbean." Bob ismed again.
"The giant peanut of the Caribbean... Yuca-A-Mok-A!!" Thomas' ad agency brain ran amok.
Like nine months like later... clad in island uniforms of frayed straw hats, yuca-avocado print T-shirts, and cut-off jeans... Dudes and Dude-ettes together on beach blankets sat. There sat Thomas with wife Lannie with child soon to be a poppin'. There sat Bob with wife Kim with baby Tim Bob cradled in arms. And Bob, well Bob ismed east out over the Caribbean waters into butterscotch Tapioca Sunrise, "Thank you LORD above in Jesus name for a keeping... our Christian hearts a beating... as one..."
The Miracle:
"Tapioca Sunrise" is itself a result of faith and prayer. But why was the name of the main character Lannie. I had no clue. In fact I tried most all the way thru writing the story to change the name from Lannie. Every time, I drew a blank; til near story end I wondered why does God insist her name be Lannie. So I looked it up on the internet. There I saw why a short story named "Tapioca Sunrise" had to have the main character named Lannie. Lannie is Hawaiian for... sky or heaven, or if you will sky of heaven.
Faith is trust... and when his children pray to The Creator of heaven and earth in his son's name, Jesus... well is anything too hard for God... Jeremiah 32:17; Proverbs 30:5; Philippians 4:6-7 and of course doubting Thomas: John 20:24-29
Other name meanings:
Thomas: as doubting Thomas from the Holy Bible
Batach: pronounced bawtekh (Thomas' last name) from Hebrew: make to trust.
Kim (Kimberley) (Eng.): royal forest meadow
Bob: (Ger.) famed, bright and shining
"Tapioca Sunrise" is the sequel to "Just Another Avocado Sunrise"... Check it out by clicking on this blog's menu the arrows to: 2014 then November
