Skip to main content

Some Wintry Reminiscence

It was almost ten years since we’d spoken. You left so quickly that we’d made promises about circumstances under which you’d come back to me that, perhaps, we both knew neither of us could keep, though I didn’t allow myself those thoughts. Not then, anyway. I didn’t realize how much of an impression you’d made on me. In your curlicued handwriting, you’d written down you address for me to write to you. I kept that scrap of paper in my wallet for just over two years. In that time I wrote three letters and was too much of a coward to send any of them.

I thought about you a lot, but my memory of you began to fade after I met someone else, but never completely. As Mr. Bernstein explained, you were my girl with the white parasol. Who knew if you’d ever remember me, but I would bet there hasn’t been a month that has gone by in all that time when I haven’t thought of you.


The rest of this story is available in the collection "Cupid Painted Blind" available on Amazon for the Kindle.

Comments

Norm said…
I liked it, perhaps because it reminded me of something I wrote awhile back.

http://www.mostlyanecdotal.org/2006/12/24/sweet-and-shy/
11:19 PM
Anonymous said…
I like ur stories...care to exchange link? rika-shortstories.blogspot.com
2:08 AM
Anonymous said…
It is a good story. A few bits of dialogue would make it great.
11:28 PM
Unknown said…
Norm,

I liked your story... I guess that sort of experience is far more common than maybe I thought it might be when I thought it up and wrote it...

Parvaz,

You might be write, but I was trying to write it as though it was a letter to the girl he'd never send... If you take my meaning... I promise the next one will have some dialogue.
11:20 PM
Unknown said…
right.... you might be right... not write...

man it's late.
11:21 PM
Norm said…
All the stories have been told. The only difference is in how they're told. We take our own experience and imagination, throw them in the mix, and hope our words add something to what it is be human.
11:36 PM
Unknown said…
I can get behind that.
11:43 PM
Unknown said…
A nice story though a little surprise or boom at the ending could have added a zing to it. But very realistic and gets the reader involved, that's a great thing...
3:42 AM
Unknown said…
My daughter favorite link is http://www.kidsfront.com for short stories, I will put forward your blog also.
2:47 AM
Unknown said…
Hi Bryan,

I enjoyed reading this realistic short story. I also found another good short story on http://www.shortstorybook.net
Do check it.....regards, karen
5:03 AM
Anna Russell said…
"When my self-conscious had given your image a rest for any extended period of time, my sub-conscious would remind me of you."

Love, love, love that line. It says so much in so few words - something I think all good writers should be able to do.

Sorry to be pedantic, but I think you might have meant to say "eyes" after almond?

I read someone commented on not being so keen on the ending, but I disagree - this story is written in such a realistic manner that any other ending would have spoiled it imo.

Nicely done.

And by the way - NEVER ask a girl if you can kiss her. Never!

Hugs
Anna xxx
2:16 PM
Unknown said…
Anna,

Thanks for the save on the eyes... It was certainly meant to be there...

And yes, I've learned you never ask a girl if you can kiss her.

Thanks for reading...

--Bryan
2:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Salt Lake Comic Con 2017 Schedule

It's time for another year of Salt Lake Comic Con and another hectic schedule for me. But! that doesn't mean it's not a helluva lot of fun. I hope you're able to join me at any of these panels. Especially if you like Star Wars. And please, please, please come to my signing and visit. Get some books signed. I'd love that enormously. Here is my Thursday schedule: Everything here is a highlight. That first panel about behind the scenes of the prequels is with Pablo Hidalgo and I'll be asking him questions about what it was like to be there on set for most of the prequels. Then I'll be asking questions of Michael Biehn, who I've been a fan of since I was a little kid. Aliens and Terminator were favorites. If you want to ask him a question, please hit me up on Twitter with it. I will ask it at the panel. And you don't want to miss Fauxthentic History's Infinity Gauntlet live episode. It's going to be soooo good. Here is Friday:
Post a Comment
Read more

The Missed Opportunities of Days Gone By

“Hello?” I said into the phone, accepting the call from a number I didn’t recognize. “Hey,” the feminine voice on the other replied, as though I should know the sound of her voice. At a loss, I said, “Can I help you?” “It’s Brooke.” Her name stopped me. It couldn’t possibly be her. We hadn’t spoken in years, a decade perhaps. “Brooke?” “Yeah, Brooke Baker. This is Mark, right?” Jesus Christ. It was her. “Yeah, it is Mark. Brooke. Wow. How are you? It’s been a long time since… well… since anything.” “I know.” “So, how are you doing?” “Okay, I suppose…” Her voice belied her words, though. Something was up. “I… It’s just been so long and I guess I wanted to hear your voice.” “I don’t think I had a number for you. Ever. I offered a couple of times, but…” “I was a brat back then.” And that’s how a random phone call turned into a two-and-a-half hour catch-up session. We spoke of everything under the sun: people we still knew, how different we were, h
14 comments
Read more

The End of an Era and a New Beginning

It's been a long time coming, but I think an upgrade to my web presence was long overdue. I began this blog in 2005 and it's served me well over the last 13 years. My goal in those early days was to write a short story every month. Back then, that was the only writing I was doing. This website, then called "Bryan's Short Story Corner," got me into a regular writing habit. One that I still maintain today. I hoped it would help me get eyeballs on my words and, looking back at some of those early short stories, I shouldn't have wanted any of those eyeballs looking. Today, my Patreon fills that void. There is a dedicated group of supporters there that help subsidize my ability to write short stories on the regular. After I started publishing books, this blog morphed into a place to talk about my projects and writing and it worked well enough for that for a long time. But now I have Twitter and Medium for those functions and they have much cleaner and easi
Post a Comment
Read more