Today's writing piece comes from a writing prompt at Write on Edge about utilizing local nostalgia to create a short story. As I just finished pasting this onto my blog, I realized I didn't utilize any particular "named" local things, but utilized a place and activities to tell my fiction tale.
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Lily sat on the stool facing the window, so
she could get a good look at the bay.
Her coffee steam fogged her glasses, reacting to how cool it had been
outside. Fall in Seattle was her favorite season,
but as she thought of a warmer place, a warmer time in her life, the orange
leaves rippled into rolling waves. Sand
crept up between her toes; it was abrasive, yet comforting. A set of wings flapped past her head, and
Lily realized it was an old, hungry friend.
Lily made many friends at the ocean.
One in particular flooded her with nostalgia.
It had been so
many years since Drew, so many lost nights in the sand and surf. His warm tan skin and his confident golden
eyes enveloped Lily’s memories in a passionate, yet
fleeting embrace. She couldn’t recall how many
times she questioned his intentions. She
was only visiting family for the summer, after all. Nevertheless, Drew would smile and Lily would
lose it all over again, swimming in his endless passionate kisses.
Lily focused on
one particular kiss, one that came after a very important question from
Drew. He had asked her for vow of marriage
– a commitment a
17 year old could hardly make. Lily’s heart had
stopped in her chest, as her eyes welled with tears. She knew she could not stay with this man at
the ocean’s edge.
She might as well jump in the Atlantic herself and save him the misery
of her answer. Lily dropped Drew’s gentle hands and
stared towards the waves. Drew sighed,
and Lily knew it was done. He carefully
moved a strand of hair from Lily’s face, leaned
towards her and pressed his lips softly to hers. “I’ll think of you
always, my little sunshine.”
He whispered close in her ear and walked away.
“Ma’am? Excuse me, ma’am? I think your phone is ringing again. It’s been going off
for ten minutes.”
The store manager’s voice boomed through Lily’s ears, while Drew’s words echoed
into oblivion. Lily’s reality flooded
in, taking all of her sand and sorrow with it.
----Charlie----
= Unreadable. Unrecommended.
