A Dollar Bet
Nathan asks Carol to marry him
Butterflies flitted in his stomach. He was sure she could hear his breathing from across the elegant table. Nathan squirmed again. He caught his breath in gasps. Somewhere, as if from a distance, he heard her order, “lobster with a side of caviar.” It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He ordered a steak, medium rare, and sat back again. He started to move forward, but lost his nerve and sat down again. Finally, he took one final breath, knelt on one knee and produced a small box from his pocket. More terrified than he had ever been in his life, he whispered the words, ‘Carol Mae McClennon, will you be my wife?” He waited, holding his breath, afraid of what the answer might be, until she reached forward and kissed him and replied, “of course” He slipped the ring onto her finger silently, then kissed her hand. He could breathe again. He was so elated he hardly tasted his steak dinner. She had really said yes! She would become Mrs. Carol Bridger!
He snapped to attention and stopped daydreaming. Almost every day he remembered that moment in vivid detail down to the taste of her finger as he kissed it gently. Now it was back to his current project. He was a sophomore at MIT and it was midterm. He was working on a program to translate spoken languages into any other written language. His databases were huge, and quickly getting out of his control. He wasn’t certain if the project could ever be fully done, but he did have significant portions of it finished. It would be limited; it would never translate languages that didn’t use the standard 26 letter alphabet, but it was a start.
He looked at his friend Scott and grinned. “You know this is the technology that is going to allow us to communicate with aliens one day,” Scott started the familiar banter, which Nathan gladly joined in on, “the future is in the oceans. All this around us and no one uses it for much of anything. We’ve still got 80 of our resources and they’re under water. Why, one day maybe this technology will allow us to communicate with dolphins.
“it’ll never happen Nathan. Dolphins may be smart, and they may have sex for pleasure, but they aren’t talking in sentences or building structures. They’re a good show at sea world, that’s it.”
“I’ll bet you a dollar it happens in our lifetime.” Nathan retorted. “you’re on!” Scott laughed happily, certain he had just won a dollar off his friend, but equally certain that he would never see that money.
Butterflies flitted in his stomach. He was sure she could hear his breathing from across the elegant table. Nathan squirmed again. He caught his breath in gasps. Somewhere, as if from a distance, he heard her order, “lobster with a side of caviar.” It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He ordered a steak, medium rare, and sat back again. He started to move forward, but lost his nerve and sat down again. Finally, he took one final breath, knelt on one knee and produced a small box from his pocket. More terrified than he had ever been in his life, he whispered the words, ‘Carol Mae McClennon, will you be my wife?” He waited, holding his breath, afraid of what the answer might be, until she reached forward and kissed him and replied, “of course” He slipped the ring onto her finger silently, then kissed her hand. He could breathe again. He was so elated he hardly tasted his steak dinner. She had really said yes! She would become Mrs. Carol Bridger!
He snapped to attention and stopped daydreaming. Almost every day he remembered that moment in vivid detail down to the taste of her finger as he kissed it gently. Now it was back to his current project. He was a sophomore at MIT and it was midterm. He was working on a program to translate spoken languages into any other written language. His databases were huge, and quickly getting out of his control. He wasn’t certain if the project could ever be fully done, but he did have significant portions of it finished. It would be limited; it would never translate languages that didn’t use the standard 26 letter alphabet, but it was a start.
He looked at his friend Scott and grinned. “You know this is the technology that is going to allow us to communicate with aliens one day,” Scott started the familiar banter, which Nathan gladly joined in on, “the future is in the oceans. All this around us and no one uses it for much of anything. We’ve still got 80 of our resources and they’re under water. Why, one day maybe this technology will allow us to communicate with dolphins.
“it’ll never happen Nathan. Dolphins may be smart, and they may have sex for pleasure, but they aren’t talking in sentences or building structures. They’re a good show at sea world, that’s it.”
“I’ll bet you a dollar it happens in our lifetime.” Nathan retorted. “you’re on!” Scott laughed happily, certain he had just won a dollar off his friend, but equally certain that he would never see that money.