Our theme for the month of October is “flash nonfiction.” Writers were asked to submit pieces that were 250 words or less.
I slump down at the table, tucked into the grungy rain coat turned from bright blue to dull gray by countless camping trips. Everyone else in the room is soaked in the energy of the wedding they had all just attended. I was an add-on to the afterparty.
Across from me sits my real-life foil. For years we have butted heads, arguing about everything from the value of sleep to the ideal wedding to the best strategy for stealing gold from the other team. I am convinced that he chooses the opposite side just to drive me nuts.
Yet here, as a bearded man in an orange Fanta t-shirt does covers in the corner, we are both uncharacteristically subdued. Caught up in our emotions, we let the waves of conversation wash over us, barely responsive to them. Having braced myself for an argument, I am taken aback by his muted manner.
I watch him pick up a menu carefully folded into the shape of a swan, and ask me to hold up my fingers for a game of paper football. We flick the swan back and forth, fixated on our technique and exchanging quiet smiles when we succeed. It shows no trace of our usual cutthroat battle for dominance, and instead feels like a friendly treaty.
As the paper skitters through a puddle of Pepsi, I am grateful for this white flag. We have silently agreed to exist for the moment in mutual exhaustion.
Susannah currently lives in New Jersey and works as a 7th grade ELA teacher in East Harlem. When she is not teaching or writing, she can be found exploring independent bookstores, going backpacking, and trying to roller-skate on all the cool trails in the city. She is also recently experienced in the art of citrus skunk repellent (I know you’re impressed).
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This is finely subtle and suggestive in how it could be read. Really enjoyed it!
Yes, I really love how you wrote this tiny moment and relationship between two people. Well done.