Tag Archives: #blogbattle

#BlogBattle: Lurk – Week 33 – Hair Razor

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🙂 Tuesday is upon us once again!! Let the #Blogbattle begin!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Lurkblogbattle-award-1

Genre:  Comedy/Humor

Two of my favorite characters, Nita and Michael, for some ghostly fun 🙂

Hair Razor

As Nita approaches the vacant building, she sees the owner waiting by the door, she greets her as she walks up,  “Hi Alyssa, Michael should be here shortly.”

“Nita, Hello.  Let’s step inside and wait then.”

Alyssa is the current owner of the hair salon that Nita and Michael want to purchase.  She inherited it from her Aunt Babs, and kept it open for as long as she could.  It has been empty for several years now, it needs a little work, but it’s in a good location, and had a great reputation when it was a hair salon for all those years.

Alyssa heads towards the back to turn the lights on when Michael walks in.  Nita glances at him then does a double take.  He’s wearing work boots, what the heck?  “Hey Michael, what’s with the boots?  You look like one of The Village People.”

He stops dead in his tracks.  “Pumpkin.  I hope that was a compliment and not a derogatory remark.”  He walks over and stands next to her, his voice low, “The boots, my little Frappuccino, are protection in the event this place has rats.  You know those damn things like to lurk in the shadows and then dart out and scurry across your feet…I can’t even…ewww” His whole body shudders with exaggeration as he explains himself.

Alyssa enters the room, Michael walks over with a dramatic flourish to greet her, “Alyssa, darling, so good to see you.”  He uses both his hands to shake hers.

“Hello Michael, I’m glad to have this opportunity to show you the place, I think you will both see it’s a great space.  Let’s go to the back, and you can see the rest, the supply room, break room and bathrooms.” Alyssa says as she leads the way.

As they stand in the break room, Michael says to Nita, “I like it.  With a thorough cleaning, a little interior design and new fixtures, it will be absolutely gorgeous, don’t you agree?”

Nita nods her head in agreement as she continues to look around, “I think you’re right.” She says with excitement.

Alyssa moves to walk back to the front when she stops and asks, “Do you smell that?”

Nita questions as she inhales deeply, “Smell what?”

Embarrassed she waves her hand to dismiss the notion, “Oh it’s probably nothing, I thought I smelled something that reminded me of the perfume Babs used to wear.”  She smiles at the fond memory, “Giorgio was her signature scent.  My mind must be playing tricks on me.  She always joked that she would haunt the place if she didn’t like the new owners, and it was no secret that she didn’t like male hairstylists.  That’s why she never hired any, she didn’t want them taking over her space.”

Nita and Michael just look at each other amused as Michael quietly says, “Well wasn’t she just a bundle of fabulous wrapped up in sunshine.”

“Michael!!” Nita chides.

Just then a noise comes from the corner of the room, and a rat darts out and runs right past Michael a hair’s width away from his feet, and disappears behind a cabinet.  Michael has to take several cleansing breaths to calm himself.  He glares at Nita, “See.”

“Sorry about that.  We didn’t have rats when we were in business, that’s only because it’s been empty for some time.” Alyssa assures them.

They walk back out into the open area, “So, do the two of you need time to make a decision?”

Nita and Michael look and each other, smile and say in unison, “No.”

“Great, we’ll set up and appointment and make it official.”  Alyssa says as she shakes their hands.

~~~

After extensive renovations and a successful grand opening, they agreed on a schedule that allows Michael to open the Salon every morning.  On his first morning alone, after turning on the lights, he reaches over to turn on the radio, he jumps as some god-awful country music blares from the speakers.  Cringing from the sound not unlike someone running their fingernails down a chalkboard, he fumbles to change the station quickly, and doesn’t think anything of it and starts his day.

But every morning it’s the same.  He mentions it to Nita, but she shrugs it off.  One morning he realizes what it is.  He turns the radio on, switches the station and fearlessly commands, “Babs?  Why don’t you make yourself useful and make some coffee instead of messing with the radio every morning!!  I’m not afraid of you!!”

That same day, his new client Josephine comes in.  Michael is not only one of the best hairstylists, but he also has a genuine personality that draws a person in, and makes them feel like they are the most important person in the world.  Josephine tells him that she and Babs were best friends for years, he listened as she reminisced about the good ol’ days, obviously missing her friend.  Michael mentions to her the strange thing that goes on each morning.  Josephine smiles and tells him that Babs appeared to her in a dream asking her to stop by the Salon to see how things are going.  She explains that the Salon was everything to Babs, she just wants to be sure it’s in good hands.  Josephine assures him that after today, the strange things will most likely stop.  Before she leaves, she makes a standing weekly appointment with him.  Not only because she is completely overjoyed with her visit with Michael, but as her way of letting Babs know it’s OK to move on.

The next morning Michael walks into the Salon, soft music and the smell of coffee gives him pause.  The salon is still dark which causes him to stop in the middle of the open space.  With an unsteady hand he rubs the back of his neck to smooth the tiny hairs that are standing at attention.  Just as he’s about to move, Nita walks in from the back room.  “Michael…hey…you OK?  It looks like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Letting out a breath he was holding for too long, he says, “It’s just you, Apple Slice.”  Splaying his hand over his chest to calm his racing heart.

Nita laughs, “Who else would it be?  You think the spirit of Babs is lurking in the break room?”  She teases, giving him a push as she walks past him.  “Oh, and I didn’t have any problem with the radio this morning.  I noticed that the buttons are really close together, maybe you’re just hitting the wrong one or something.”  She says with a shrug as she begins to set up for the day.

Michael walks into the back room.  After he hangs up his coat, he turns to find a cup of coffee sitting on the table that he knows was not there when he first walked in.  Before he moves towards it, his nostrils are invaded with a sweet, flowery scent, as the back door slowly swings open on a breeze.  He walks over to pull the door closed, a warm sensation moves across his body as if exiting out the door.  He smiles to himself and quietly says, “Godspeed Babs…Godspeed.”

 

#BlogBattle: Scar – Week 31 – Worth It

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Tuesday = #Blogbattle

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Scar

Genre:  Romance/Drama

Worth It

The rain is fiercely coming down, pelting my skin like a thousand tiny daggers. The icy water from the river has risen far too quickly and is now rushing around me.  I hold on tight to a tree branch.  I know if I start shivering, I won’t be able to hold on.  The wind has picked up and the temperature has dropped at least 20 degrees.  I knew we should have turned back before the storm hit.  My fingers are tingling from the cold, “Adam…I don’t know that I can hold on any longer.”  I yell above the rushing water and the howling wind.  He answers back “Kate….hold on Kate, I’m coming, I’m almost there.” His voice loud but calm.  “Hurry!!” I frantically scream.  I try to focus on my grip, but my mind wanders to what if he doesn’t make it in time.  The river will swallow me up, I won’t have a chance, just then my grip slips, “Adam!!”

I must have yelled his name so loud that it woke me from my sleep, because I bolted straight up in bed, my chest heaving as I try to catch my breath.  I brush my hair from my face, and realize it was just a dream.  The same dream I always have when I’m stressed out and things seem out of my control in my life.

I look at the clock, it’s 4 a.m.  I’m wide-awake now.  I head to the kitchen to get some tea, maybe that will calm my racing thoughts.  As I fill the kettle with water and place it on the stove, my mind takes me back, I remember that day all too well.  Adam and I always took walks along the river near his house.  We were just teenagers then, he was older than I was, yet we spent a lot of time together.  We always crossed the river at the same spot, so it wasn’t new for us.  But that day the storm rolled in too quickly and the rain came down too hard.  We were racing to get home, and I slipped on a rock and almost fell into the river before he caught me.  In the process of him saving me, he acquired a nasty gash on his left hand that we didn’t see until we were safely catching our breath in his backyard.  I reached over and grabbed his hand cradling it carefully in my own, and said, “You hurt yourself.  Yikes, that’s going to leave a nasty scar.”

Applying pressure to it with the corner of his shirt balled up in his other hand, he casually replies, “Eh it’s nothing….it was worth it.  I’d never let anything happen to you Kate.”

It was at that moment that everything changed between us, but I was too young to really understand what to do with it, and before I knew it his family moved away and we lost track of each other.

The memory of our friendship and all those carefree days we spent together made me smile.  The whistle of the teakettle brings me back to reality.  My thoughts begin to berate me.  Get a grip Kate.  I’m sure he doesn’t even think about that day or you at all.  Sure he has the scar as a permanent reminder, but I’m sure he has moved on…happily married, with a wife, 2.5 kids, a dog, the house with a white picket fence.  Unlike you.  Yep…we all have scars, only mine cover the walls of my mind, and canvas my heart.

I shake my head and abruptly stop that train of thought.  It has to be the stress from work.   My boss assures me this merger is going to go smoothly.  I can only hope.  I look at the clock again.  It’s too early to go into the office.  I decide to hit the gym and work off some of this nervous energy.  A good work out and some laps in the pool will get me in the right frame of mind.

By 8:00 a.m. I walk into my office with coffee in hand ready to take on the day.  All negative thoughts and emotions left drowning in the pool.  My assistant Lisa knocks on the door, with files in hand she reminds me of my meeting at 8:30.

I walk into the conference room, and the VP greets me, and then introduces me to the gentlemen next to him.  “Katherine Richmond, this is Adam Madsen.” Adam extends his hand and I firmly shake it, not taking my eyes off him.  This can’t be happening.  The meeting is about to start, so we take our seats not getting a chance to speak.

It takes every ounce of my strength to focus on the meeting.  I just know it’s him.  The meeting ends just in time for lunch.  I quickly exit the conference room, on my way out I let Lisa know I’m leaving the building for lunch.  I have to get away and wrap my brain around this whole situation.  When I return from lunch Adam and I will be working closely together until this merger goes through and then once it is done.  How am I going to do this?  There is no way he recognizes me.  I go by Katherine now, my last name has changed, my hair is a different color.   OK…I can do this, just focus on business.  I cannot bring myself to eat, so I return to the office, ready to work.

Lisa let’s me know that Adam is waiting for me in my office.  I walk in and casually say, “Are we ready to work?”  With that we dive into the task at hand.  He is focused on the details, so it makes it easy to keep things strictly business, and I am determined to keep it that way even though the scar on his left hand seems to want to incite me to do otherwise.

We’ve put in a long day, and then some.  We order Chinese Food in for dinner as we wrap up for the day.  It isn’t until then that our conversation turns to idle chitchat.  I notice no wedding ring, and he confirms with his conversation that he isn’t married.  With that bit of information, I cannot help myself, I have to know.  As I begin cleaning up the empty food cartons I reach over and run my finger along the scar that runs the width of his left hand.  “That’s quite a scar you’ve got there…so…was it worth it?”

He gazes down at my finger caressing his hand for a heartbeat, then looks up, stares deep into my eyes as if searching for the answer, and when he finds it he says, “Kate.”

© 2015 Carrie Ann

#BlogBattle: Reach – Week 30 – Better Than Brownies

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🙂 Tuesday is upon us once again!! Let the #Blogbattle begin!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Reach

Genre:  Romance ❤

2977887792_e5e7f491ec_n

Better Than Brownies

Eden finds herself standing alone in the kitchen, it’s much quieter in here.  Thinking to herself, I still don’t know why I am here.  I am too old for this crap.  No…that’s a lie, I’m not that old, and I am here because it’s my younger sister’s housewarming party.  Our 9 year age difference usually isn’t so noticeable, and it’s not, when it’s just her and I.  But being surrounded by her 30-ish friends, is making me feel my 40-ish years.  I think I’m going to call it a night, but not before I make my way over to the food table, hoping to get one of her famous double chocolate brownies.  She assures me that even though she did not use the “secret” ingredient she used to use in high school, they will taste the same.  Kelly makes the best brownies.

As I walk into the other room, I can see there is one left, I lock my sights on it as I approach the table weaving in and out of the horde of people talking, dancing, and taking group selfies.  Just as I am about to reach for it, some guy accidentally bumps into me on my right.  He apologizes profusely, and I just smile and say, “It’s OK.”

I turn back to grab the brownie and it’s gone.  I look to my left and there he is, with half of the brownie in his mouth and the other half in his hand.  I look from his hand to his mouth and back to his hand.  He mumbles with his mouth full, “These are really good,” as he enthusiastically points to the half-eaten brownie with his other hand, not sure he can be understood over the music.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t know.” Eden replies flatly, but loudly to be heard over the music.  Arms crossed.

He has swallowed it by now, and the music quiets so he says.  “I’m sorry, I took the last one.”  It then dawns on him and he starts to ramble, “I just…were you…” as he gestures to himself, to the brownie, then to the table not sure what to say, or how to make this right.

I hold up my hand, and shake my head assuring him with a smile,  “It’s fine.”  I’m actually enjoying myself watching him grovel.  Wondering who he is, he looks about as out of place in this crowd as I feel.  He must be close to my age.

He holds up the half eaten bit, “There’s still some left, I’ll share.”

This is getting ridiculous now, “No, really…you enjoy it.  I was actually on my way out.”  I twist my body as I point towards the door.

“Let me make it up to you.  Are you walking?”  He inquires, I nod my head yes.

“Then let me walk you home.  There’s a nice little 24 hour joint not far from here, we can stop and have some coffee, and dessert.”  He says with those gorgeous blue eyes pleading.

“Sure…let me just say good night to my sister.  By the way, I’m Eden.”  She holds out her hand.

With one hand splayed against his broad chest, and the other reaching for hers in a handshake, he says, “Declan.  Nice to meet you Eden.  I work with Kelly’s boyfriend, Miles.”

With a nod and a smile, “It’s nice to meet you, Declan.  I’ll be right back.  I’ll meet you at the door.” I leave to say goodbye to my sister.

We meet back up at the door and walk out into the cool crisp night.

True to his word, the 24-hour joint is nice and is little.  It’s not hard to find a table, being the only ones there.  We order coffee and slices of chocolate cream pie.

Now that we are in the brighter light, I realize that Declan is probably close to my age, wearing a plain white button down oxford shirt, and some jeans, which is probably why he looked out of place back at my sister’s party.  But by far was the best looking guy there.

I take a bite of the pie and am surprised at how good it is and comment as such, “Mmmm…this is actually pretty good…that is, for pie.  I mean it’s not a deliciously decadent double chocolate brownie…but it’s good.”

“You’re not going to let that go are you?”

I rest my chin in my hand like I’m deep in thought for a brief moment, and then reply, “Nope…absolutely not.” I lift my cup of coffee and take a sip eyeing him playfully over the rim of the mug.

“Well, what can I say, other than it was worth it,” he says with a smug grin.

We talk some more, then realize that it has gotten late.  We continue talking as he walks me home.  Somewhere along the way he reaches for my hand to entwine our fingers as if it’s what we always do.

He walks me all the way to my front door, and as we stand on the porch I say, “Thanks for the coffee and the pie.  I would have never guessed consorting with a brownie thief would be so enjoyable.  You know…you still owe me a brownie.”

He drops his head in mock defeat, then looks up directly into my eyes and says, “Next time, but until then maybe this will help.”  He steps in front of me sliding one hand in my hair at the nape of my neck and reaches his other arm around my waist to pull me close, he gently presses his lips to mine.  For a moment we are lost sharing new feelings in a way that words cannot express.  Reluctantly Declan pulls away.  Pleasantly shocked and a little breathless, I say, “yeah…that was sooo much better than a brownie.”

With a mischievous grin and a quiet laugh, Declan says, “Good night Eden, sweet dreams,” as he turns and walks away.

 

© 2015 Carrie Ann

This is my Hail Mary pass for this week.  Was having a hard time with the prompt, but this finally came to me 😐
And I’m under 1000 words….YES!!  Two of my favorite things…romance and chocolate 🙂

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/87363185@N00/2977887792″>Chocolate beetroot brownies</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

 

#BlogBattle: Ride – Week 29 – Some Kind of Ride

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Tuesday = #Blogbattle

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Ride

FYI:  bruh is the new slang for bro, used frequently with the young people 🙂

Some Kind of Ride

Lucas pulls up in his vintage 1987 Nissan Pulsar just as Ryder is coming out of the house.

“Dude!! Sweet ride…you finished the Nissan!!”

“Yeah, my brother was home for the weekend, I needed his expertise to get it functional.  You wanna take a trip?” Lucas inquires

“Bruh….you know it.”

With that Ryder hops in, and lets out a slow whistle.  “I know this wasn’t in the original design, he points at the contraption that sits in between the two front seats.  Does it work?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Lucas replies in his normal monotone.

“What fuels it?” Ryder asks with pure excitement.

“Red Bull, Mountain Dew Voltage and Power Bars.”  Lucas says as he holds each one up then dumps them into the contraption.

“You’re kidding right?”

“Negative.” Still no emotion.

“So where are we going?”

“Don’t you mean when?”  Lucas says with an eyebrow raised.  “I’m not sure we should go too far into the future, I don’t think I’m ready to see myself old.  How about just five years, that way we’ll know where we went to college, and will have graduated by then.” Now he’s excited.

“Dude…all you do is stress about college.” Exasperated he leans his head back against the headrest with a thud.

“I’m still waiting to see if I got into MIT…it’s killing me…this way I’ll know.”  Lucas  argues.

“You’re the captain, I’m just here for the ride…you know you’re a total geek right?”

“Yes…a geek with a time machine bruh.”  Emphasizing the last word to poke fun at his best friend.

“So how does it work?” Ryder not bothered by the jab.

“We need a good sized road with no obstructions, we’re going to head over to Stuenkel Road.  I record the date, and then fire ‘er up.  Once we hit a speed of 110 mph, we’ll be history…or…uh…destiny…uh…whatever, you know what I mean.” Lucas says with frustration as he waves his hand.  “Buckle up.”

The actual trip was a bit of a blur, but once they reach the future, the car hits the pavement and starts to slow down, on the same road they left on.  Lucas expertly brings it to a stop, and they look at each other with wide eyes, and just burst out laughing.  Ryder spoke first and eloquently says, “No. Way.”

Lucas gets out of the car and says “Let’s go check things out.”

They hide the car behind some bushes and start walking towards their neighborhood.  Being only five years into the future not much has changed.  It has gotten dark by know, and they continue to walk.  On the other side of the road, Lucas notices what looks like a makeshift memorial, with flowers, teddy bears, and a wooden cross.  Lucas says, “Huh…that’s new,” as he points over to it.

Ryder doesn’t pay it much attention, and continues to walk.  They reach his house first.  They quietly walk in, it’s pretty dark, either no one is home, or everyone is asleep.  Their phones aren’t working so they aren’t exactly sure what time it is.

Everything looks the same, but Ryder says, “Something feels different doesn’t it?”

Lucas shrugs and says, “I don’t know…feels the same to me.”

Ryder walks over to the mantle, and looks at the pictures, he stares at his senior picture, the one he just took over the summer.  “Lucas, what year did you punch in again?”

Lucas walks over pushing up his glasses he replies, “2021 why?  What’s wrong.”

Ryder points to the picture, “This.  Where’s my high school graduation picture?  Or college?  You know my mom always keeps up with those things.”

He begins to look around for the photo albums that his mom has kept for him.  She just started a new one for his senior year.  He finds it and when he opens it, a newspaper clipping falls out, and the album is nearly empty.  He scans over the article, then drops everything, rushing out of the house, saying with urgency “Lucas, we gotta go.”

Looking back and forth to the album, and his retreating friend, Lucas stops for a moment to pick up the newspaper article.  His eyes are wide, and after holding it between his fingers for a few seconds, he drops it as if the act of holding it caused great pain.  He rushes after Ryder.

Ryder is on the back deck bent over resting his hands on his knees gulping in deep breaths.  Shaking his head he says, “We have to go back, I have to get back.”

Without a word they take off at a sprint back to the car.  Lucas fires it up, and the trip back is just the same.  The car hits the pavement and starts to slow down.  Lucas continues to drive.  When they get to the same spot in the road, Lucas slows down and says, “Ryder look, it’s not there.”

Ryder lifts his head and looks out the window, and lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, and quietly says, “Just take me home bruh.”

When they pull up to the house, Lucas looks over at Ryder and asks, “You gonna be OK?  I am so sorry, I’m going to destroy the time machine.”

“Dude, I’ll be fine, you love this car, don’t destroy the whole thing…How will we pick up chicks?”  He says with a smile.  “Maybe this was the wake up call I needed.  There are things I need to change, and get serious about.  Maybe that won’t be my fate after all.”

Lucas closes his eyes, nods his head once to concur and extends his hand and says, “We don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”  With that they execute their secret handshake, to seal the agreement.

Ryder walks in the house and finds his mom in the kitchen, she asks, “Hey was that the car Lucas has been working on?  It looks great, you guys take a ride?”

“Yeah…yeah we did.”  Ryder says looking down at his feet.

“You want a snack honey?” Mom’s answer for everything.

“No, I’m good, I’m just gonna go upstairs.  Good night.”  As he passes his mom he grabs her in a big bear hug, and whispers, “Love you mom.”

“Love you too hon,” she hugs him back cherishing this brief moment of affection.  As she lets him go to leave, she says to herself, “that must have been some kind of ride.”

© 2015 Carrie Ann

 

Rachael posted some cool trivia that Blogbattle Week 29 falls on the 29th day of the 9th month.  Also, the last time I did a time travel story was during Mercury Retrograde….we are in it again until October 9.  Things that make you go hmmmm….. 🙂

#BlogBattle: Orchid – Week 28 – New Beginnings

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🙂 Tuesday is upon us once again!! Let the #Blogbattle begin!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Orchid

Genre:  Romance ❤

orchids

New Beginnings

Finn steps into the house that is so familiar.  It’s just as his Aunt Lainey had always kept it.  It had been a couple months since her passing, a friend of hers took care of the house until he could move in. As he walks into the dining room, he stops, and looks around.  The orchids.  Aunt Lainey loved her orchids, and she has not just a few of them, they are everywhere.  He smiles as he hears her voice echo through his brain “Please Finn…don’t kill my beloved Orchids.  When the time comes, you’ll know exactly what to do with them.”

Before he can start any work, he needs to eat.  With no food in the house, he needs to go out.  When he steps out of the house and heads towards his car, he notices someone next door, he hadn’t realized that the house had been sold.  It was empty for many years after old man Stone died.  When she glances his way, they both stop, staring at each other as recognition dawns.  “Claire?” Finn asks.

“Finn?” she mimics.

They walk towards each other, their elation palpable.  When they are close enough he pulls her in a friendly hug and says, “Claire, you look great!!”

After hugging him back she says, “You do too Finn, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”  He points over to the house then says, “My Aunt Lainey left me the house, I just got here today to start cleaning it out.”  Suddenly his memory darkens, he says quietly, “Hey…I heard about Danny…I am so sorry Claire.” He rubs his hands up and down her arms.

She softly replies, “Thanks Finn, I knew when I married him there was always that possibility” she shrugs, “He died doing what he loved, defending our country…not that it makes it any easier.”  Smiling and needing to change the subject she spreads her arms out towards the house and says, “But look…I bought a house!!  It needs a lot of work…but it’s mine!!”

“Congratulations!! Hey, I was just going to get something to eat, would you like to join me?”

“You know, I think I will.” She says with a nod.

They continue talking on the drive to the restaurant, as comfortable as the two old friends that they are.  Being back in the town they both grew up in stirred up a lot of old memories.

As they wait for their food to arrive, they compare to-do lists for their houses.  Finn hates the thought of Claire doing all that work by herself, but knows deep down she needs to do it herself, and probably will enjoy it, but still.  He can’t help but offer, “Claire, please do not hesitate to call me if you need any help, I’d be happy to help.”

“Thanks Finn, but I know you have a lot of things you need to get done as well, I’d hate to bother you, I’ll get everything done…eventually.  Hey, the way I look at it I have 30 years to get it just right.”  She says with a smile full of pride and accomplishment.

As they eat, talk and laugh, Finn sees Claire with new eyes.  In high school she was always Danny’s girl, so he never thought of her as anything but a friend.  But now, after knowing what she’s been through losing her husband too soon, yet ready to tackle a new life, alone, he is in awe at how strong and beautiful she is.

As they linger over dessert and coffee, Claire excuses herself to use the ladies room.  She has enjoyed Finn’s company more than she expected to.  Sure they were old friends, but in high school, she never looked at anyone else, for her it was always just Danny.  As she washes her hands and looks at herself in the mirror, this is the first time in five years that she doesn’t see the young widow of Staff Sergeant Parsons.  Who she sees is the woman she truly is.  Oh, she will always love Danny, but with the new house, it’s time for new beginnings.

She steps out of the ladies room, and catches a glimpse of Finn sitting there waiting for her.  Yeah…Finn is definitely easy on the eyes, she grins at the thought of having him as her neighbor.

When they pull up to the house, Finn jumps out and quickly jogs around the front of the car to open her door.  It’s been a long time since a man did that for her, the sweet gesture warms her heart.  He takes her hand in his to help her out of the car.  She says, “Thanks for dinner Finn, it was nice catching up.”

With a slight bow he says, “You are very welcome Claire, I enjoyed it too.  Claire…don’t forget…you call me if you need anything.”  He says pointing a finger at her.

“Yeah, OK…Thanks again Finn…Good night.” Claire turns and walks away.

“’Night Claire…dream sweet.”

~ ♥ ❤ ♥ ~

Finn wakes up early the next morning ready to start his day.  As he walks through the dining room, the sun shining through the window catches his eye.  There standing proudly among the purple flowers is one lone yellow orchid, illuminated by the sun’s rays.  He wasn’t by any means an expert on orchids, but in all these years, he has never seen a yellow one before.

He enters the kitchen to get some coffee, as he looks out the window, he sees Claire up on a ladder.  “What the…oh no. That’s not happening.” He murmurs to himself.

He walks out the back door allowing the screen door to slam behind him.  He marches right up to the ladder and says, “What do you think you are doing?  Claire, I told you to call me.”

“It’s so early I didn’t want to wake you.” She argues.

“Come down from there…carefully, please.” He coaxes her.

He holds on the ladder as she descends it slowly.  She makes it all the way down safely, but slips on the last rung causing her to almost fall, but Finn grabs hold of her.  As she tries to stand on her own, he notices that her loose fitting shirt fell from her shoulder revealing a beautiful tattoo on her back.  First he asks, “Are you OK?” Then, “Is that a tattoo?”

She nods her head, and shyly says, “Yes.” Trying to cover it back up.  He stops her and says, “May I?” as he moves the shirt back to reveal the whole design.

She explains, “It’s an orchid, my favorite flower.”

“Yes, I know it’s an orchid, it’s beautiful…but why a yellow one?” Admiring it, he inquires.

“A yellow orchid symbolizes new beginnings…how do you know it’s an orchid?” she questions.

He says with a smile and a shrug…”I’ve seen a few.  New beginnings huh?”  Just then he takes her by the hand and says, “Come on…you have to see this!!”

© 2015 Carrie Ann