“Yep,” said Luke, grinning shyly. He punched at his thigh bone. “Dang leg,” he said.
“Givin’ ya trouble agin, Hoss?” asked Annie Lou.
“Don’t matter none,” said Luke. He picked a swimming spider from the bucket and plucked at its legs. “Sh’luvs me,” he said, blushing. “Sh’luvs me not. Ow!” The spider flipped away, teeth clicking angrily.
Luke gazed at Annie Lou, looking from eye to eye.
“Well,” he said, “will ya?”
“Oh, Hoss!” She embraced him at the shoulders and waist. “I thought you’d never ask!”
“Ya will?”
“Sho!”
“Creeps!” cried Luke. “I’m the happiest Hoss wot ever lived!”
At which he kissed her hard on the lip and went off racing across the flats, curly mane streaming behind, yelling and whooping.
“Ya-hoo! I’m so happy! I’m so happy, happy, happy!”
His leg fell off. He left it behind, dancing.
Richard Matheson, The Box: Uncanny Stories
(Series: # )
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