perky

Whenever a human walked by they’d say, “Have a nice day!” in a perky voice.

Michelle is fluent in the perky command, the passive voice, the slippery non-apology, the kind of language that frames cruelty as blameless happenstance.

She dreamed of looking like perky, platinum blond Doris Day.

The other park, not far up the coast, was as perky and clean-cut as a barbershop quartet, painted the colors of sand and sky, with shipshape and jaunty ocean-inspired adventures, and zippy, futuristic, razzle-dazzle rides.

As for women, Jessica remembers a character description calling for a woman with “perky t— and a flat stomach.”