I didn’t notice when Suzanne first showed up. We unloaded the stage, carried it into the theater, and assembled it behind the proscenium, a stage upon a stage. First came the wine barrels, then the interlocking frame, and finally the wooden platforms. We lashed the backdrop to the uprights and, with a shout from cast and crew, raised them into position. When I looked up, there she was, wrapped in a fatigue jacket, watching from behind a cascade of curly hair. She returned to the same seat at showtime. Afterward, we all ate and drank, and she took me home.
Charles DegelmanWriter, editor, and educator based in Los Angeles. He's also played a lot of music. Degelman teaches writing at California State University, Los Angeles.
Degelman lives in the hills of Hollywood with his companion on the road of life, four cats, assorted dogs, and a coterie of communard brothers and sisters.
Characterizations:
right on!, well written
Just the title reminded me of the great Leonard Cohen song (popularized by Judy Collins), so your final phrase somehow didn’t come as a surprise, but I very much liked your use of the RetroFlash format to set the stage (so to speak) for the relationship.
Thanks, Betsy. Just took the line from a larger piece I’m workin’ on!
Like a duck to water. What a perfectly lovely surprise, Charles! The question is, did she touch your perfect body with her mind?
Of course, Barb! You don’t think I’d let just any vapid undergrad take me home, do you? (Don’t dignify that question with an answer, please.)
Ah Charles, to her place near the river?
Ha ha. Good one, Dana! In r/l, I took the first line from a larger piece I’m workin’ on.
A perfect RetroFlash! I can picture it all so clearly! Barb and Dana beat me to the best quotes, leaving me to ask did she feed you tea and oranges?
Thanks, Suzy. I think it was probably more like beer and pizza in one of those joints with hatch covers for tabletops and initials carved in them.
Great RetroFlash. Reading the clever comments was also fun. Love the ending!