Friday Flash Fiction - week 10!

The Forgotten Kiss


As Deidre stood up to her elbows in suds, she realised that it had been years since she had kissed her husband. Of course, there had been friendly pecks on the cheeks, but she was thinking of the kind of kiss that makes your lips ache. 


They had married young, both in their twenties, after a courtship of a few months. She’d loved being able to say she was ‘courting’, but not as much as she loved telling people she was ‘married’. Patrick had proposed on an April day when there was still snow on the ground and they had married in July. Children soon followed and that completed her dream of family life. 


When Deidre and Patrick were in their forties, she turned a blind eye when he took up with a girl from work, knowing it would pass. One day she found him crying in the garden shed and she knew that he’d been shelved for someone younger and better able to provide for the hussy who’d been sleeping with her husband. 


The years following were like a second wind blown gently into their marriage and they enjoyed holidays without the children and soon learned to spend more time together again. 


Deidre was now a grandmother and as she looked out over her groomed garden, she wondered why grandmothers shouldn’t long to be kissed like they were twenty years old. She slotted the last plate into the drying-up rack and pulled off her pink rubber gloves. Whilst re-applying her favourite shade of lipstick, she thought about the young man upstairs. He was trying to fix something, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what she’d called him round for.  


He appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, lean and smooth. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Birch, I couldn’t find anything wrong.” 


“Not to worry, dear. There’s something else you might be able to help me with instead.” 


“Anything, Mrs. Birch.” 


“Anything? Well, in that case.” She tucked a loose, grey curl behind her ear. With a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye, she crossed the kitchen to the young unsuspecting plumber. 

L. Besley

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I wasn't sure before I took my holiday whether I'd keep writing or not. It was harder to find the time than I'd thought it would be, but I think I've benefited from having a couple of weeks away from the desk. I hope you missed Friday Flash Fiction and have enjoyed reading this week's story!

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Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count. 


On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.  


Thanks, as always, for reading.