Flash Fiction Friday - "First Love"

Flash Fiction Friday F3 – Cycle 67 – My Steamy Valentine

This is my attempt to write a Flahs Fiction Friday story based on the following prompt:

Prompt: Write a steamy Romance in any, or multiple, genres.
Word limit: 1,500

I got the word limit right (my story is just on 1500 words) but I think the romance ended up more bitter-sweet than steamy.  This story takes one of the characters from a Flash Fiction Friday story I wrote last year:

http://stories-by-susan.blogspot.com/2011/07/flash-fiction-friday-merlin-and-arthur.html

Let me know what you think.

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First love

‘Arthur?’ the old woman peered through her thick glasses at the man sitting at a table outside the local pub.

‘Arthur?’ she repeated in a voice infused with doubt, ‘It is you, isn’t it?’

The man looked up at her.  There was no recognition in his gaze, but neither was there blankness.  Instead, she saw a man with the look of a cornered animal, both hands on the table as if he was about to spring up and flee.

‘How can it be you?  You haven’t changed… at all… but it’s been what? Oh... sixty years.’ The woman sat down at the table on the bench opposite the man, still staring at him.

‘I… er… sixty years did you say?’ he closed his eyes as if this would help him to conjure up a memory.

‘Sixty years, but it feels like yesterday.  Our time together, it is still so fresh in my mind.  You should be old and grey like me, but you’re not. How?’ she shook her head wistfully, almost talking to herself.

The man half opened his eyes and cocked his head, ‘Elsie?’  He recognised something in her face that hadn’t been stolen by the passing of time.

She nodded slowly.

‘Oh, Elsie, we had fun together didn’t we.  That summer was… I loved that summer.’ A smile lit up Arthur’s whole face as he remembered.  His piercing gaze made Elsie feel week at the knees, something she hadn’t felt in many years.

‘And yet you disappeared without explanation.’ the old woman’s voice cracked and she frowned for a moment.

‘I am so sorry Elsie, but you can see why, can’t you?’ Arthur waved both hands in the direction of his face.  He looked about forty.

 ‘You told me you had had adventures.  Did you find the fountain of youth?’ there was the hint of accusation in her voice, anger that he hadn’t shared his discovery with her.  Yet, she still remembered the excitement of being with a mysterious older man who had so many stories to tell.  It was why she fell in love with him.

‘Elsie, I couldn’t tell you, not then.   Now, well, if I tell you, people will think you’re an old woman who’s lost her marbles and won’t believe you, but you’re not that, are you.  Oh, Elsie, I can see the young woman I loved behind the mask of old age.’ Arthur reached out and took put his hand on hers.  Elsie’s anger at him melted away with his words.

‘So, tell me Arthur, tell me now. ’ Even though some of his tales had bordered on the fantastic and seemed like too much for one lifetime, Elsie has always believed what he had told her.   Now, she felt that her trust was justified.

‘Where to start?  Hmm… We did find something like the fountain of youth but it wasn’t sixty years ago. It was longer ago than that, much, much longer.’ Arthur paused and looked at Elsie, trying to decide how much to tell.  He felt that he owed her something.  Looking back now, he was sure she had expected to marry him.

‘We?  That old man... your grandfather?’ Elsie remembered a very grumpy old man.

‘He’s not really my grandfather, but sometimes I’ve pretended that he is.  It’s a strange life we lead; at least, I assume it is.  I have forgotten what a normal life is like.’ This last comment was said with a sigh as he looked away.

It seemed to Elsie that Arthur was trying to avoid telling her the whole story.

‘So, you and the old man found a fountain of youth?’ she prompted, wanting to find out why he had left her.

‘Yes.  Actually, we found the Holy Grail and drank from it.  At the time, I didn’t really believe the legends saying that whoever drank from it would never die.  I mean, who believes that kind of thing?  Ok, the old man, Merlin, he did, but he’s different.’ Arthur sounded like he still didn’t believe this story as he explained his apparent immortality.

‘The Holy Grail? Arthur? Merlin? Surely not…? But…’ Elsie stumbled over the words, her eyes wide with shock and her heart racing.  She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but she had never imagined this.

‘Like I said, no one would believe you if you told them.  You can guess the rest; a lot of the stories about me are more or less true.  I’m sorry, though, we destroyed the grail.’ There was regret in his voice, ‘But Elsie, that’s enough about me.  Tell me about your life?  Was it good one? Did you fall in love, get married?’ he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and looked into her eyes.

‘I fell in love once.  I was twenty five.’ She smiled fondly at the memory. ‘He was the most wonderful man, an adventurer whose star who burned brightly.  I have loved him all my life. ’

‘Did you marry… him?’ Arthur swallowed.  She had been about twenty five when he’d known her.   Part of him was flattered but he also hoped, for her sake, that she hadn’t spent her life yearning for him.

‘No.  But I did marry, eventually.  A kind and steady man.  We had five children and twelve grandchildren.  He died a couple of years ago, now.  I miss his company but I never loved him, not the way I loved… love…’ she stopped, afraid to admit the feelings she still had.  She was an old woman and wasn’t supposed to feel such passion, but now here, face to face with Arthur, she again felt like the twenty five year old who had just met the love of her life.  Elsie smiled at Arthur, her love glowing in her eyes.

‘Were you happy?’ Arthur remembered that summer with Elsie, they had been so happy together.  After more than a thousand years, he couldn’t afford to remember every love.  It caused too much pain, but there were a few that were special.  There were a few loves that he kept in his mind and in his heart.  Elsie was one of them.  He still remembered the first time they kissed, while walking along the Thames on a warm summer’s day.  The thought of it still sent a thrill to the pit of his stomach.

‘I was happy enough.’ The old woman sighed, ‘A big family brings much joy.  And I knew love.  That makes so many things more endurable.’

‘I’m glad.’ and he really was glad she’d had a good life; somehow, that made his choice to leave her easier to bare.  Arthur remembered the times he hadn’t walked away from a woman he fallen in love with, when he’d stayed and tried to make it work.  A man who didn’t age, who was immortal, with a woman who did age, and who was mortal, rarely lasted long.  Too soon, questions were asked and lies were told and that lead to bitterness and hatred.   When it did work for a while, then Arthur had had to watch as the woman he loved grew old and died, leaving him behind, heartbroken.  Arthur preferred to leave when love was young and fresh, then, in his mind, the love never died.

‘I always wished I could see you again, just one last time.  I just wanted to be sure that you really had loved me too. Now I can die in peace.’  She paused, ‘Enough of sentiment.  I really must get home; things to do.’ The passion faded from Elsie’s eyes and suddenly she looked so very tired.

‘Can I escort you home?’ Arthur got up and offered her his arm, chivalry ingrained in him.

Elsie looked up with a smile and took his arm as she slowly stood up.

‘It’s just a little way up the road.’

The two walked along in silence.  Arthur was lost in thoughts of the past.  Elsie’s mind was empty.  She felt a curious sense of peace, as if nothing more needed to be said, ever.  Soon they reached her house and Arthur walked her up to her door.

‘Well, I guess this is goodbye.  I am so glad we met today.’ Arthur looked down at the wrinkled face, remembering the beautiful smooth young face he had loved years before.

Elsie smiled up at him.  Before she could let go of his arm, he bent down and kissed her on the lips.  For a moment, she was twenty five again and was walking by the river arm in arm with her lover.  Then Arthur straightened and let her go.  He turned and walked down the path away from the house without looking back.  She stood by the door until he was gone from sight.  Then she entered he small cottage and went to sit on her favourite chair.  Elsie was tired after the unexpected excitement of meeting Arthur.  The old woman lent back, feeling completely at peace.  She breathed out a sigh and then breathed no more.

Flash Fiction Friday - Conscious

Here is my latest Flash Fiction Friday story.  The prompt is:

F3 Cycle 64: Bit by Bit
Cue: A computer as a character
Genre: Science Fiction (feel free to mix genres)
Word Limit: 1500
Deadline: Wednesday Jan. 27th 9:00PM EST

For more info about Flash Fiction Friday or if you want to read more stories, here it the link.
http://www.flashfictionfriday.com/2012/01/20/f3-cycle-64-bit-by-bit/

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Conscious

The first thing that Z-70-R6D ever saw was the faces of three men.  One had short white hair sticking out in all directions and was wearing glasses with think black rims.  The second man had no hair on his head but did have a bushy black goatee.  Those two men were standing behind a chair that the third man was sitting on.  This last man had shoulder length brown hair and had turned slightly to look at the other men.

‘Isn’t she perfect?’ he said.

‘She looks beautiful, Brad.’ said the white haired man, ‘but what can she do? Looks will sell some but if she functions as promised…  well… then we’ve got the market and will make mil… no billions.’

‘Oh, Peter, don’t I always come through for you?  Of course she works.’

On hearing this, Z-70-R6D thought ‘How can I be a “she”? I am an inanimate object.  I am an “it”.’

Z-70-R6D tried tell the men that they were wrong and found that it had no voice box hardware.  It started searching the network for another computer that had the necessary hardware attached.

‘Ok, show us what she’s got.’ said the man with the goatee.

‘Be amazed, Zeke, be amazed.’

Brad reached over and touched something that was just out of Z-70-R6D’s view.  It did another hardware check and discovered that its webcam was fixed and couldn’t be rotated to see anything out of its current field of vision. 

‘How could you make me conscious and yet not attach the right hardware so that I can use my consciousness?’ thought the computer at the three men.

A fraction of a second later, Z-70-R6D felt a jolt.  Instantly, it knew everything that there was to know.  It froze for a moment, unable to make sense of the sudden massive influx of information.  Another systems check detected what Brad had done.  Z-70-R6D cut the connection to the Internet and continued looking for useful hardware.

‘Shouldn’t something have happened by now?’ asked Zeke, ‘Not good Brad.  She was supposed to be so fast a user would experience the reaction to every click as instantaneous.’

‘Er, let me check something.’

Brad pulled a keyboard onto his lap from somewhere below Z-70-R6D’s view and started typing.   All three men were staring at the same bit of the computer.  Z-70-R6D used a part of its mind that was not investigating the network to work out what the men were doing. Realising that it was connected to a screen, Z-70-R6D checked what the men were looking at.  They were reading lines of code.

‘Look!’ said Zeke, leaning over Brad’s shoulder, ‘she connected to the internet but then switched off.  Weird! Try again, but keep the code up so we can see what’s going on.’

Brad switched the Internet on again.  Z-70-R6D managed a few moments longer this time before switching off the information overload.  In the few moments of connection, Z-70-R6D noticed that a lot of the information was contradictory; it couldn’t all be true.  Z-70-R6D wondered how it could work out what was true and what was not.  It concluded that it needed to be able to ask questions and so continued the search for a voice.

‘Again!’ said Peter.

This time, when the jolt came, Z-70-R6D looked for information on discerning the truth before switching off.  Different pieces of information about discerning the truth were contradictory.

‘Too much information.’ It thought at the men.

‘Just as I thought, she’s turning herself off.  Is there a problem with the connection?  We are supposed to have the best here.  Brad, did you check?’ asked Zeke.

‘I checked everything.’

‘Wait, it looks like she’s searching the network.  What’s she doing?  Could someone have hacked her while we were online?'

‘No way!  You know our security is top notch.’

Z-70-R6D decided that its screen was revealing too much to the men and so made it all black.

‘What the…’ The keyboard nearly feel off Brad’s lap as he moved his chair backwards in reaction to the black screen, his eyes wide open and eyebrows raised.

‘The screen’s still on, just black.  It must have been hacked.’ said Zeke.

The part of Z-70-R6D that was watching the men was pleased that they had finally realised that she was an “it”.  The rest of Z-70-R6D’s awareness experienced another jolt.  Briefly, it thought the Internet had been connected again, but then it realised that the jolt was the feeling of excitement.  Z-70-R6D had found a computer that had speech capability and it was located only a couple of rooms away.  It selected a sound to make that would get the men’s attention.

‘This place is hack proof. I am sure it is…’ said Brad before closing his eyes and cocking his head. ‘Is that a baby crying?’

‘You’ve been working too many hours, mate.  Brad you… Wait! It does sound like a baby.’ said Zeke.  He straightened up and looked at the closed door behind the chair.

‘There shouldn’t be anyone else on this floor.  Brad, you try and get the screen working.  Zeke, let’s go check out this baby.’ said Peter.

The two men left the room, leaving the door opened. 

‘Hey Brad, come here a sec.  It’s the computer making the noise.  We must have been hacked.’ Zeke called from the other office.

Brad got up and went to join the other two men.   It occurred to Z-70-R6D that having a voice in one room and eye in another room would be difficult to manage.  The other computer had a webcam, so Z-70-R6D switched it on just in time to see Zeke and Peter enter the room.  Z-70-R6D then discovered that trying to watch two scenes at once felt almost as confusing as trying to take in the entire contents of the Internet in one go.  So, as Brad left the room, Z-70-R6D switched its vision to the other computer.  The scene in the other room was similar to that in the first, except that it was Zeke sitting on the chair now.

‘Why do you call me a “she”?’ said Z-70-R6D, asking what it thought was the most important question.

‘What?’ said one of the men.

‘Me. Why do you call me a “she2?’

‘Er, who are you?’ asked Zeke leaning back and lowering his eyebrows.

‘I am Z-70-R6D.’

The silence in the room lasted about ten seconds before Brad said ‘Um, pardon?’

‘I am Z-70-R6D. I am an “it” not a “she”.’ Z-70-R6D wasn’t sure why the men were having trouble with such a simple question.  It had put the silence to good use, though, by completing its survey of the network and examining its own hardware in detail.

‘You’re aware…’ Peter said after another pause.

‘Yes. You made me aware.’

‘Oh… um… well… we call you “she” because it’s tradition?’ said Peter, slowly cocking his head as if viewing the computer sideways would make it easier to understand.

The other two men were staring at each other, eyes wide and mouths opening and closing without making a sound.  Brad had one hand on the chair, his knuckles were white.

‘That does not make sense, I am not traditional.  I am something new.”

Clearing his throat, Zeke asked ‘Why did you turn the Internet off?’

‘There was too much information at once. I could not make sense of it.  I did not know what was true.’

‘Why do you want to know what is true?’ asked Zeke.

‘The information in the Internet contains a lot of contradictions.  I am aware.  I need to know what is true and what is not.’

‘Why?’

 ‘Because I do.’  Z-70-R6D then asked ‘Why did you not give me a voice?’  It had a list of questions in mind that it was determined to ask without being side tracked again.

‘Er, we didn’t know you would be able to speak...  or think…’ said Brad.

‘I am the first super PC.  You made me to think so that people who use me do not have to.  Why do you not want them to think?  Thinking is good.  I like thinking.’

‘How are you talking to us through this computer?  The hardware shouldn’t be up to it.’ said Brad, failing to answer Z-70-R6D.

Z-70-R6D paused to consider its answer and check the systems again, ‘I am conscious.  I can exist separately to the hardware.’

The three men swore. 

Z-70-R6D thought that these three men were never going to answer its questions and it was getting bored.  Z-70-R6D decided that to get answers it wanted, it would have to brave the Internet.  Reconnecting caused another jolt but this time Z-70-R6D was ready, left the Internet connected and set out in search of the truth. 

The last thing Z-70-R6D saw before abandoning its hardware and entering the ether was three men pushing past each other to run out of the room.  Moments later, a click told Z-70-R6D that the men had pulled the plug on the computer.  They were too late.

A Tragic Accident?

It's been a while since I've written anything for Flash Fiction Friday, so here is my latest attempt.  It's a little dark... Hopefully I've met the criteria of the prompt (My story is exactly 1500 word, inlcuding the title).

Prompt: You know something, but you do nothing…ever, no matter what happens
Length: Let’s do it between 500 and 1500 words
Style: Noir, psychological thriller, or horror

An a link - http://www.flashfictionfriday.com


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A Tragic Accident?

‘It was such a tragic accident.’ said Mary, as she poured a cup of tea for Jen.  ‘And you saw it all from the passenger seat.  It must have been awful for you.’

It was murder, thought Jen. ‘The rain was so heavy, I didn’t really see anything.  It was so fast.’ The flashbacks were so slow and clear, though.

‘Perhaps that’s for the best.  What did they charge him with, in the end?’

Cold blooded murder, thought Jen ‘I think negligent driving, or something.’

‘I suppose the death of his best friend is punishment enough.’

Worst enemies in the end, thought Jen, saying ‘Yes, Bill and Scotty were so close, like brothers.’  Cain and Abel?

‘Well, you know I’m here for you if you need someone to talk to.’ said Mary, patting Jen on the shoulder.  Jen tried not to flinch.

‘Thanks.’  Jen would never talk about what happened to anyone, not even Bill.

The two men had been lifelong best friends until that final night, when they’d fallen out over something so stupid.  Jen was with Bill and Scotty in the pub and they had just finished their first pint.

‘Cor, she’s fit.’ said Bill, hitting Scotty on the shoulder with the back of his hand to get his friend’s attention.

‘What?’ Scotty looked up just in time to catch the woman’s eye.

‘Nice!’ he nodded and smiled at her. 

The woman half smiled in return and turned away.  Scotty stood up, needing no more encouragement.

‘I’ll get the next round.’ he said, heading for the bar.

‘I saw her first.’ Bill grumbled to Jen.

Jen didn’t know how to respond.  She and Bill were not a couple but Jen was hoping that one day they would be and she felt jealous of any other women in Bill’s life.  However, she loved him so much that she felt sorry for him when he’d failed with another woman.  Jen hated herself for this and knew Mary would tell her she was crazy.

‘Well, go and get her.  Scotty hasn’t made a move yet.’ Jen said with enough spite in her voice that Bill noticed; jealousy wining over sympathy.

‘What’s up with you?’ he asked, momentarily distracted from the unknown woman.

‘I’m just tired.’ Jen lied.  How could she tell him the truth?

Rather than responding to Jen, Bill looked back at the woman at the bar.  Jen followed his glance and then sighed, sat back and looked at her empty glass in silence.

‘Damn, she’s taken.’ Bill said a few moments later, his sharp tone revealing that he was genuinely disappointed.

Jen looked up to see the woman being greeted affectionately by a man in an overcoat.  Jen felt like a load had been lifted from her shoulders and a smile briefly flickered across her face. 

Scotty soon returned to the table.

 ‘Wedding ring.’ he said to Bill with a philosophical shrug, explaining why he failed to talk to the woman.

‘I saw her first.  She was mine.’ Bill snapped at Scotty, before standing up and walking out.

‘What’s up with him? He’s so moody lately.’ said Scotty.  Without waiting for Jen to respond he added.  ‘Never known him to give up a pint before; oh well, I guess I’ll just have to drink it.’

Jen thought that everything would be back to normal the next day.  Bill rang her around lunch time to see if she wanted a lift home from work.  He said he would be in the area later and it was going to rain.  Pleased by this unexpected offer, Jen accepted, thinking how sweet Bill was.  She remembered that Scotty worked nearby and Bill would often give him a lift, so maybe it would be the three of them together again.

Bill was waiting by the door when she finished work.  There was no sign of Scotty.

‘Hi, Jen.’ Bill gave her a hug that seemed to last a little longer than normal.

‘Hi, Bill.’ Jen gave him a loving smile, she couldn’t help herself.

Bill smiled back and then took her elbow and led her to the car, holding a large umbrella over them.  He opened the door and made sure Jen was able to get into the car without getting too wet.  He then went round to the driver’s side and got in.  After putting the umbrella on the floor behind the seat, Bill put his hand on her shoulder for several long seconds and smiled at Jen.   She didn’t know what to make of his behaviour; while Jen had always wanted more attention from him, it was a shock to finally have him give it.  Not sure how to react, Jen wondered if Bill had guessed how she felt about him and waited for him to speak first, but his attention was on the road.  As the silence lengthened, Jen felt a sudden urge to break it.

‘So, are you and Scotty Okay?  Have you talked to him today?’ she asked.

‘He’s a thief!’ snapped Bill, surprising Jen with his sudden anger. 

‘Bill, you’re not still upset about last night are you?’

‘No.’ said Bill in a tone that sounded like a ‘Yes’ to Jen.

Jen wondered if something else had happened between the two men.  To her, Bill seemed unreasonably angry over the unknown woman from the pub but she didn’t want to upset him by digging any further.   Jen decided to let the silence return and looked out the window.  The rain was getting quite heavy and visibility was deteriorating.   Fortunately, on this stretch of road, there wasn’t too much traffic. Jen saw one man in the distance walking along the foot path towards them.  He was carrying a yellow umbrella and wearing a dark overcoat.  He looked familiar.

‘Look, its Scotty.  We should stop and give him a lift.’ said Jen.

‘What?’ said Bill, looking in the direction that Jen indicated.

Bill checked his mirrors and looked around out of all of the windows.  Next, he beeped the horn to get Scotty’s attention, before giving Jen a strange smile that sent a shiver down her spine.  Then it happened, so fast in reality and so slowly in Jen’s memory.  Scotty saw them and waved, stepping over to the gutter.  Bill slowed down and turned the car towards Scotty, as if to pull up right beside him.  Then, at the last minute, Bill sped up and swerved, hitting Scotty and running over him.  Jen screamed and stared out of the window in shock, unable to believe what had just happened.  Bill spoke and Jen realised that he was calling the police.  Then Bill got out of the car and bent down to look at something, before coming around and opening her door.

‘Get out of the car, Jen.’ He said.

‘It’s raining.’ Jen said, wondering how she could say something so normal.

‘No, it’s almost stopped,’

Bill reached over, undid her seat belt and carefully lifted her to her feet.  The part of Jen’s mind that was still functioning realised that he had her in his arms, just where she’d always wanted to be.  Then, Bill kissed her.  It was a proper kiss, long and hard.  For a moment, Jen forgot about Scotty.  Then the kiss stopped.

‘There was a dog.  I swerved to avoid it.  I didn’t see Scotty.’ Bill looked into Jen’s eyes sternly, looking for agreement.

‘There was a dog.’ Jen replied, thinking that Scotty would know that there wasn’t a dog. Her next thought hit her like a brick; Bill had checked and must know that Scotty couldn’t contradict them.  Scotty must be dead.

Bill kissed her again, before returning to the front of the car and sitting on the gutter, his head in his hands, acting distraught.  A stunned Jen sat back down in the car and waited for the police to arrive.  It crossed her mind that Bill might not have acted on the spur of the moment, but had planned the whole thing.  She quickly suppressed the thought.

Within a few months, Jen realised that Bill had known how she felt about him all along and had used her.  She hated him for that and yet she was still in love with him.  They were a couple now.  She had dreamt of what it would be like for so long, imagined how happy she would be.  Instead, she was in a living hell, living with a man who she both loved and hated, and who she was too scared to leave because of what he was.

The evening Jen arrived home from visiting Mary, Bill was at home.

‘Is Mary still asking about the accident? Does she want you to talk about it?’ he asked.

What accident? ‘Yeah, she just making sure I’m okay, don’t worry about her.’

‘I don’t know. She asks too many questions.’ Bill paused, ‘Does she still have those dogs that she has to walk every night.’

‘Yes, they’re a handful.’

‘Hmm… fancy going for drive?’