Monday, April 7, 2014

F is for . . . FLEETING

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.


*****

FLEETING

Downtown, shopkeepers prop open doors. Tourists buy souvenirs with beautiful crumpled wads of suntan lotion scented bills.

The bookstore cat weaves between ankles, licks vanilla ice cream puddles.

Boys in muscle shirts, all sweat and sinew, strut, while girls in short shorts, showing miles of taut glowing skin, giggle, their lips shimmering with tangerine gloss.

Parents smile across strollers, hold hands again. These kings and queens of old cast benevolent but wistful glances at their past selves sauntering by.

The houses, the cars are rentals, as are the carefree, relaxed attitudes. It will all be returned by week’s end.

*****

36 comments:

  1. Vacation time is the best, maybe because it doesn't last :)
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
    Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

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  2. LOVE this!! So, so, so true!! My favorite line (although it was so hard to pick because I loved it all): "Boys in muscle shirts, all sweat and sinew, strut, while girls in short shorts, showing miles of taut glowing skin, giggle, their lips shimmering with tangerine gloss."

    So great! Can't wait to read more of your stories throughout the rest of the month! :)

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  3. I closed my eyes and felt myself in this scene!

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  4. You have such a poetic style. Thanks for the read.
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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  5. Kristin - thank you so much! I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the stories, too. :)

    Elizabeth, OE - thank you! It feels so real and summery to me, too.

    Debi - it's funny, because I've been told that before, and yet if you asked me to write poetry, I'd totally freeze up.

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  6. Love the visual you created here, especially the bookstore cat! :D

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  7. AH! I absolutely loved this paragraph: "Parents smile across strollers, hold hands again. These kings and queens of old cast benevolent but wistful glances at their past selves sauntering by."

    So many truths. I love it, Madeline.

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  8. Julie, Crystal - thank you! So glad to hear it resonated with you both.

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  9. For just a moment, I was on the pier of many seaside towns, smelling the air and eating ice cream. Thanks for take those memories out of the file in my brain!

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  10. This brought me back to piers over gray tides, eating a soft cone, and smelling the salty air!

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  11. That sounds like a relaxing vacation spot!

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  12. S, Susan - aren't memories like that wonderful?!

    Alex, Nana - thanks for reading!

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  13. You have proven just how much can be told in 100 words--carefully chosen! Your imagery is rich and--as debi said--poetic. Thanks for the smile!

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  14. Loved this, and would love to be dropped into this locale and left there for a while. Bliss!

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  15. MaryGrace - thank you! And you're welcome for the smile. :)

    Kathy - I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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  16. Your story makes me crave summer. Love the details ... like it wasn't just any cat, it was the bookstore cat. And not just money, but suntan lotion scented bills. Lovely, Madeline.

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  17. Cathy - summer's on its way! And nothing makes me think of summer and the beach and relaxing like the scent of suntan lotion. I had to use it here. :)

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  18. I could use some of that relaxed setting with warm and sunshine.

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  19. Lovely short for fleeting. As a wannabe full time walker on North Carolin's outer banks, I'm glad to meet a fellow beach comber!

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  20. I so want it to be summer. Thanks for the few minutes of happy day dreaming!

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  21. Susan, Anna - soon, soon! :)

    Sayling - my husband and I love walking on the beach! It's one of our favorite things to do.

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  22. Oh I love this!! I'm gonna have to go back and read the A thru E.

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  23. Beautiful word picture--very poetic! Thanks.
    Blessings,
    Linda

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  24. This one reminds me of the vacations I've enjoyed in touristy places when the days were hot, the ice cream melting faster than I could eat it. You have a lovely way with words, Madeline.

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  25. Dani - I hope you enjoy those as well!

    Life After, Patricia, Duncan - glad you enjoyed this one!

    Tasha - I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed…. Sigh.

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  26. Such vivid images you paint with so few words. Inspirational!

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  27. Kudos: The incredible descriptions, the vivid poetry, the living ginger.

    Dropping by from the A-Z. Hope this post amuses:

    http://ragtaggiggagon.blogspot.ie/2014/04/j-is-for-judge-judy-z-blogging-challenge.html

    Terrific work on here. Glad I found you.

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  28. I enjoyed the relaxed and casual atmosphere in this one.

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  29. Wow! So many wonderful images in so few words. Loved it!

    Donna B. McNicol
    A to Z Participant

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  30. It's like a crystallized memory- so rich with sensory details, love it!

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