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Liken to One Love
She walked to the tennis courts, not far from the parallel street sweet shop. It was hot and sunny at the worst possible time of day, straight up noon. Sunscreen in hand, she felt undaunted by the blazing sky. There were tall Elm like shade trees over hanging above the 10 foot fences surrounding the courts in every corner. Shade could be found there if the angle of the sun was right behind any of them.
A siren made her look backwards from where she had briskly walked about a 1/4 mile. Nothing visible noted, she continued towards the lockers lining each side of the court. She opened one and stashed her purse and keys inside. Deciding to wait to see who would show up for a few volleys she sat on the benches in the same corner as the lockers. They were surrounded with more fencing to keep stray tennis balls from making dents in the steel or bouncing in a bad way that may cause injuries to players.
Soon enough Deirdre became restless and thought better of waiting when she saw a figure in the distance, not far away, dressed in oddly dark clothing for such a warm day. Sure enough the figure turned around and stopped and was eyeing his watch as if late. Strange way to avoid a few volleys, not even getting close enough to say hi. They had a hoody on too, obscuring the face within. “Can’t tell if this person is male or female by the look of the attire alone.”, she muttered and sighed. “Guess I’ll be hitting volleys at the wall again.”
The the dark figure turned around quickly and directly approached Deirdre with evil haste. Dierdre flinched at the speeding person as if hit with a volley herself. What they were going to do didn’t seem apt for a few volleys.
The hooded person, stopped suddenly and shouted, “Hey, miss, have you got the time, I’m late and I didn’t plan enough time to play with anyone and my watch has stopped?” With hugh relief Deirdre spoke quickly like a hiccup in the middle of a sentence. “Um, well, you startled me, thought you were a would be assailant on the march! It’s obviously noon!!” “Oh, sorry ma’am.” the man uttered hesitantly. “But you know how the rush hour is at this time of day, and I wasn’t trying to harm you, just in a hurry right now. “Got an interview appointment.” The lame excuse sounded phony to Deirdre. He was definitely not dressed for it and shuffling his feet nervously. ‘What now’, she thought.
Deirdre was in the habit of coming to the courts every Saturday and another 3 days a week when possible. It’s been a dream to find a real good partner but also one that she could also hit something else off with. Yes, her dream love was always just another Love point away since her hopes have been dashed everyday till today. Isn’t thinking assailant anymore. This shift of perspetives came from her auto-habit of thinking about the dream not the reality in front of her. A firm habit of thoughts.
Then the man clears his throat and speaks more deliberately, since Deidre had been silent in her internal reverie for a solid minute or so.
“Excuse me miss, I’ll be back after my interview and was hoping someone would still be here when I do. Might you be planning to stay on for some real volley’s?” Deirdre almost blushed at the change of demeanor. He smiled. She smiles broadly too now. “Oh, my name is Everly, Everly Nour.” Everly offers his hand to Deirdre, which she promptly shakes vigorously, maybe a little too vigorous. He feels delighted at this change of outcomes. “Well, must be off now, I’ll be back very soon, less than an hour more than likely.” He pauses only for a couple seconds and turns to go. “Oh yes, okay! And I’m Deirdre,btw.” Everly turning back, nodding, says, “Pleasure to meet you, Deirdre.” He trots away and is out of the courts going at a slow jog as Deirdre watches him go.
To Be Continued….
A siren made her look backwards from where she had briskly walked about a 1/4 mile. Nothing visible noted, she continued towards the lockers lining each side of the court. She opened one and stashed her purse and keys inside. Deciding to wait to see who would show up for a few volleys she sat on the benches in the same corner as the lockers. They were surrounded with more fencing to keep stray tennis balls from making dents in the steel or bouncing in a bad way that may cause injuries to players.
Soon enough Deirdre became restless and thought better of waiting when she saw a figure in the distance, not far away, dressed in oddly dark clothing for such a warm day. Sure enough the figure turned around and stopped and was eyeing his watch as if late. Strange way to avoid a few volleys, not even getting close enough to say hi. They had a hoody on too, obscuring the face within. “Can’t tell if this person is male or female by the look of the attire alone.”, she muttered and sighed. “Guess I’ll be hitting volleys at the wall again.”
The the dark figure turned around quickly and directly approached Deirdre with evil haste. Dierdre flinched at the speeding person as if hit with a volley herself. What they were going to do didn’t seem apt for a few volleys.
The hooded person, stopped suddenly and shouted, “Hey, miss, have you got the time, I’m late and I didn’t plan enough time to play with anyone and my watch has stopped?” With hugh relief Deirdre spoke quickly like a hiccup in the middle of a sentence. “Um, well, you startled me, thought you were a would be assailant on the march! It’s obviously noon!!” “Oh, sorry ma’am.” the man uttered hesitantly. “But you know how the rush hour is at this time of day, and I wasn’t trying to harm you, just in a hurry right now. “Got an interview appointment.” The lame excuse sounded phony to Deirdre. He was definitely not dressed for it and shuffling his feet nervously. ‘What now’, she thought.
Deirdre was in the habit of coming to the courts every Saturday and another 3 days a week when possible. It’s been a dream to find a real good partner but also one that she could also hit something else off with. Yes, her dream love was always just another Love point away since her hopes have been dashed everyday till today. Isn’t thinking assailant anymore. This shift of perspetives came from her auto-habit of thinking about the dream not the reality in front of her. A firm habit of thoughts.
Then the man clears his throat and speaks more deliberately, since Deidre had been silent in her internal reverie for a solid minute or so.
“Excuse me miss, I’ll be back after my interview and was hoping someone would still be here when I do. Might you be planning to stay on for some real volley’s?” Deirdre almost blushed at the change of demeanor. He smiled. She smiles broadly too now. “Oh, my name is Everly, Everly Nour.” Everly offers his hand to Deirdre, which she promptly shakes vigorously, maybe a little too vigorous. He feels delighted at this change of outcomes. “Well, must be off now, I’ll be back very soon, less than an hour more than likely.” He pauses only for a couple seconds and turns to go. “Oh yes, okay! And I’m Deirdre,btw.” Everly turning back, nodding, says, “Pleasure to meet you, Deirdre.” He trots away and is out of the courts going at a slow jog as Deirdre watches him go.
To Be Continued….
Published 23rd May 2022
Author's Note
Flash Fiction piece I'm working on over at Medium.
https://medium.com/@Poetience/liken-to-one-love-e45547d914fa
image from pixabay
https://medium.com/@Poetience/liken-to-one-love-e45547d914fa
image from pixabay
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