The suddenness of love.

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I could never resist a handsome face. I’d see him, leaning over the side of a boat, and I’d be struck by a lightning bolt of desire. I’d hear a voice raised in song and my heart would burst open. Always a shock, always sudden. I don’t know why.

I was surprised every time love started. Or ended.

My blood is colder than theirs, of course, and my life much longer. Handsome boys grow pale and lose their beauty. Their fingers pucker in salt water. Their singing stops, and they yearn for sunlight, green grass, the feeling of air in their lungs.

Suddenly they bore me, and then, with one flick of my silver tail, I’m gone. Off in search of the next handsome boy who strays too close to the water. Off in search of something like love.

Merrill is hosting Prosery at dVersetonight. Our quotation is “I don’t know why I was surprised every time love started or ended” from I wanted to be surprised by Jane Hirshfield. 144 words of flash fiction – prose, not poetry. Whatever next?

21 thoughts on “The suddenness of love.”

  1. What a super piece of flash fiction! Inventive and beautifully crafted. Over the last few years I’ve read 5000 or so pieces of flash fiction and this is in the top half dozen.

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  6. Never trust a Silkie. Never lean too far out of a boat. In Sydney, Australia, they tell you not to trail your hands or feet in the water from a boat because of sharks.

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  11. I can never resist a mermaid’s tail/tale, Sarah, and yours is cleverly and vividly crafted. I love the penultimate paragraph, comparing mermaid and human, and the final paragraph is a flick of the tale indeed.

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