Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
What was originally supposed to be Vinnie and Ethan flying with Uncle Benny to Atlanta has become an actual road trip that includes Ethan's sister and her child. See what's going on in this week's chapter of Rose and Thorne. Don't forget to see what the other Briefers are up to. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
Ethan turned up the heater in the car as we left the
gas station, out of deference to his passengers, I knew. Not that he wouldn’t
have done it for me, but I normally didn’t complain about the cold. The current temperature was only about thirty-five
degrees, so pretty chilly for Virginia. I knew it wouldn’t feel so bad once we
were on the road and the sun had a real chance to warm everything up. Back in
Joliet, we’d consider this a heat wave, especially for February, but
Southerners weren’t used to the same frigid temps I’d had to endure growing up.
Snow for them was a freak occurrence, one they were seldom prepared for. But
both states had one thing in common… motor vehicle operators who had no idea
how to handle themselves in the snow. I guess that just goes to show that bad
drivers can be found just about anywhere.
To be honest, this whole situation felt completely
surreal. Ethan’s sister, uncle, and nephew in the back seat, laughing and
chatting and watching little Alex eat his breakfast. Ethan and I sitting up front, like the old
married couple we almost were. We were lucky to have borrowed a car seat from
Laverne when we knew Alex was coming, since the Commonwealth of Virginia
required all children below the age of seven be properly secured in either a
child safety seat or a booster seat. He seemed content to eat his chicken and
biscuit. When he was done, and his mother had cleaned him up, she gave him some
kind of tablet, to my amazement. Children were learning how to operate
computers almost from birth it seemed. No wonder they were so good at it. Alex
certainly seemed to enjoy playing with his.
By mutual consent, the subject of the baby daddy was
not brought up. I don’t think any of us were prepared to have that particular
discussion. Instead, it was happy memories of more innocent times. Benny had
been a big part of their lives once he’d gotten out of prison. I imagine Joseph
Thorne saw an opportunity to portray himself as a charitable benefactor in the
rehabilitation of his brother-in-law. You know, good Christian and all that. Up
until the moment when he realized Benny was gay and cast him out. Because
that’s what good Christians do.
Sorry, sore subject with me. I shouldn’t paint all
Christians with that brush. That’s no better than their open homophobia. In
this case, it was the minister just being a bigot, end of story.
They spoke to one another in such loving and
familiar terms that my heart swelled just to listen to them. Once upon a time,
I might have been bitter and somewhat envious of their obvious closeness and
the love they all shared. But having found Ethan, I’d come to know a love I’d
never thought possible, and I no longer felt excluded, as I once had. An
outsider living on the periphery of everyone else’s existence. I was really and
truly loved, and that was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
I couldn’t help but wonder what odd twist of fate
had brought us all together, here and now, when our paths had seemed to be set
on separate courses but had now converged. Coincidence, of course. I wasn’t so
much concerned with the brief appearance of Sarah’s ex as I was with what was
going on with Benny. First the fire alarm at the hotel, then the attempt on his
life, which I had to assume was targeted at Benny and not just random
happenstance. Then the threat at the airport which had necessitated this road
trip. Was Benny’s ex really that concerned with the testimony he was about to
give, or was there something else going on here that we didn’t fully
understand. Either way, I knew we had to be particularly vigilant.
to be continued
Now go see what's up with the other Briefers!
No comments:
Post a Comment