Monday, March 16, 2009

Everything - A Short Story


I know, it's been a looong time since my last post. Better late than never, right? :-p Here goes, my first 500-word story of the year. Enjoy!


Everything
By Kristen Berry

I should have seen it coming. But when I saw him on the other side of the restaurant with her, my insides did that awful thing when half your parts hit the floor and the other lodge in your throat. I suppose he felt the same way, as I sat there with Jack. I saw it, too; the muscles under the skin of his face went to stone.


He didn’t come back into my life overnight. For a while, I would just see him from afar in public places, though I was never sure he saw me. Not until he appeared behind me one day at Borders and asked, “Are you haunting me?”


Never one for small talk, he immediately asked me to coffee. A person could have coffee with an inconsequential ex, someone with which you had only shared a few memories and too much time. But Kevin . . . It had been seven years, and still he inspired the novels that paid my bills. No, there could be no coffee between us.


After several weeks of ignoring his emails, I finally gave into an e-conversation with him. We compromised on the terms: seeing each other would be too dangerous; calls too personal; letters too romantic. We would communicate through email alone, deleting each other’s messages as soon as they were read.


It filled a void. When we forced ourselves to stay focused on what we had and not wish for more, we actually made up for all the little things we’d settled for in our partners.


For a moment, we had everything. But then I saw him at the restaurant, sitting with his wife, and all the things I couldn’t have were the only things I wanted.


I needed to leave. But we were only halfway through our appetizers and I didn’t want to arouse Jack's suspicions. Not that he would ever suspect anything anyway. Good, sweet Jack. He deserved so much better than me.


I excused myself with a smile and walked toward the ladies’ room. It was locked. I rested my hands on the table in the hall and hung my head.


I hated myself. Our affair might not have been physical, but I was still just like the shoes that tracked the dirt onto the rug I stood on, dragging grim bits of the outside onto something bright and beautiful, ruining the thing over time.


I mean, weren’t Jack and I happy? Even if he didn’t fulfill my every need, even if he never understood me the way Kevin did, even if he couldn’t sum up the world with all the eloquence and wisdom of an epic poet, weren’t we still happy?


Then I felt his hand on my back. I was a column of Jenga blocks just after the last piece was pulled, swaying fruitlessly, trying to right myself though in a matter of seconds I would be dashed to the floor in a million broken pieces.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I've Been a Bad Blogger . . .


Actually, I've been a good blogger . . . it's just been for another blog (http://www.newsforpeoplewhoreadgood.com).

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about "A Literary Girl." Now that "News for People Who Read Good" is up and running, I'm definitely returning my attention to fiction.

Stay tuned! My goal is to get another piece of super-short (500 words) fiction up by next week.