How Much is That Love in the Window?

Chel Owens

One inch of glass was all that stood between them. She’d measured, knuckling her finger and squinting with her face against the cold, cold window. Still, one inch between her and her Tomàs meant little.

Some days -well, nights, really- she’d leaned a sunken cheek against her side and felt those serious, warm lips from his side. Her weak heart fluttered.

“Come away, child,” they told her; dragged her.

Stretching, grasping; she used what little strength she could muster. To stay. To keep watching.

To keep loving Tomàs, the paper boy on the corner who never turned her way.

newspaper-boy-4

©2020 Chelsea Owens

Coming from a sad place, for Carrot Ranch‘s prompt this week:

April 23, 2020, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about distance dating. It can be any genre, era, or setting. Who is dating, and why the distance? How do the characters overcome, accept, or break up because of the distance? Go where the prompt leads!

Respond by April 28, 2020. Use the comment section …to share, read, and be social. You may leave a link, pingback, or story in the comments. If you want to be published in the weekly collection, please use the form.  Rules & Guidelines.

26 thoughts on “How Much is That Love in the Window?”

  2. Pastor Cathy April 27, 2020 / 4:55 pm

    How Much is That Love in the Window?

    Like

  4. Norah April 28, 2020 / 5:49 am

    Well done, Chelsea. It is sad. I wasn’t sure where it was or how it would end. At first I was thinking it was mother looking at her newborn through glass. That would have been sad too.

    Liked by 1 person

      • Norah April 29, 2020 / 4:36 am

        Hmm. Sometimes our stories take us to those places we don’t wish to go, by alternate routes. The stories are hidden to us but revealed to others.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. bereavedandbeingasingleparent April 28, 2020 / 12:03 pm

    That’s so well written and sad. Not sure I could cope with reading too many more lines. Need to find some chocolate now to cheer me up.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. johnlmalone April 28, 2020 / 3:31 pm

    well done, Chelsea; a clever and moving response to a challenging prompt; and yes, I still remember ‘How much is that doggy in the window ?’ 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Charli Mills April 29, 2020 / 6:38 pm

    Such a heart-tugger, Chelsea! I love the detail of the glass — something fragile yet so permanent in distance. Well done.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Pingback: Distance Dating « Carrot Ranch Literary Community
  13. Jules May 3, 2020 / 2:00 pm

    My grandson for years spouted facts of the Titanic. There is even a museum of the Titanic in Tennessee – which his parents took him to! A reminder of just how much and how little can separate those who love each other…

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.