This post was written in response to Sacha Black’s weekly prompt for 2017 (52 weeks in 52 words). Join in here!
Sacha will post one prompt a week for 52 weeks, and the challenge is to write a story in just 52 words exactly. The value of conciseness for a writer is invaluable, as Sacha herself reminds us: ‘The art of being concise is nothing if not a muscle flexing ‘write’ bicep curling device’.
This week’s prompt: That moment you see your ex with their hot new bit and you look like a turd.
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The Stroll
Two weeks’ wages, but it’s totally worth it.
God, he’s gorgeous. Thirty, tall, muscular, wavy, chestnut hair, and dressed to kill.
‘What can I do for you?’ he whispered in his sexy voice. I almost succumbed.
Instead I said, ‘Let’s take a walk.’
My sixty-year-old ex’s face as we stroll past? Priceless.
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Today’s prompt reminded me of a book I read recently, by Spanish author, Rosa Montero.
La carne, or Flesh, is about a sixty year old successful art dealer, who lives in Madrid. Soledad, which means literally solitude or loneliness, wants to make her ex boyfriend jealous. In order to do so, she hires a very expensive and gorgeous escort to accompany her to certain social events where her ex will be present. She hires the escort repeatedly, to such an extent that she gradually develops feelings for him.
It’s a fabulous novel about aging, loneliness, love, and relationships.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been translated into English yet, but I hope it will be soon, because it’s the best Spanish novel I’ve read in a long time.
Rosa Montero, author of La Carne (Flesh)
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