Giggles in the air. Toddlers chasing. Adults telling silly stories. Diners diving for desserts saving fried chicken for later.
We were sitting at the long white dinner table, relatives and visitors on all sides. I told the incident to brother, sister-in-law, their granddaughter, my friend, and whoever else was sitting nearby.
Granddaughter was laughingly involved with her young aunt, being silly with sparkling eyes and not really paying too much attention to me.
"I broke my carafe!"
Ahs of sympathies and surprise.
"All because the bell sleeve of this red blouse caught the handle!" I raised my arm to show the sleeve off, "It fell to the floor before I could catch it."
"It was awful, glass went everywhere, it shattered into a million pieces!"
Their granddaughter said, "Giraffe? You broke a giraffe?"
I laughed, "No, I broke a carafe."
She looked blank. She'd never heard the word. Her grandmother had to explain it was a clear pot to a drip coffee maker. Then granddaughter turned to her playmate, whispering, laughing.
"Yah," I said, "I broke a giraffe. The horns went that way. The legs shot off across the floor in the opposite direction. Who knows where the head went but the spots just exploded and filled the air like stars from a sparkler!" and I did the wiggling fingers in the air mime.
She laughed, her eyes got big with an idea, "It's purple tongue reached up and slapped itself in the eyes!"
Yes! Way to embellish! A joke I could look up to!
