Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette

Hello, hello, hello all of my brother and sister bloggers and flash fiction writers.  The Old Soldier is here with the Tuesday edition of  The Gazette, the #1 flash fiction blog on the web.  I’m happy to have a second story of Paul Beckman’s in The Gazette, making Paul eligible for the $15 dollar honorarium that I’ll be awarding to some lucky writer once I get a few more submissions.  You only need one story to be eligible for the reward.

Now don’t make a rookie mistake by submitting a story without following the guidelines.  Click on the Open Contest/Submissions tab at the top of the page for all the details.

Look around The Gazette.  Tell your friends about the #1 flash fiction blog on the Internet.  The next edition of The Gazette will be published on Thursday.

This is the Old Soldier reporting from Pittsburgh.

********************

TWO-TIMER

 There is a man who stares at me whenever our paths cross. I haven’t said anything to my husband because he’d just laugh at me and my so called fertile imagination. Our town of Adams, Connecticut has a population of only twelve thousand so it’s not uncommon to run into the same people. He’s one of those people and it’s almost always in the super market. He likes to catch my eye and maintain eye contact as long as possible until I’m the one to break it off, flustered and annoyed.

Yesterday I saw him in the hardware store and he was staring at another woman that same way. I noticed that his posture was erect, his hair wavy with a touch of grey and he had a pleasant and non-threatening expression.

 She saw him looking, smiled and looked away at something on a shelf. I walked around the store holding my basket and dropping in a few items—light bulbs batteries, a mouse trap—nothing I needed, until I was between the staring man and the hussy who smiled him a come on. I stared at him–waiting for him to turn and catch my eye but he didn’t give me a glance.
He paid for his purchases and left without looking around. Minutes later, composed but more annoyed than when he stared at me, I left the store and got into my car. I looked around before backing out of my space and he was staring at me from the safety of his car parked next to mine.

Flustered, I put my car in park and stared back, determined not to give in and I wouldn’t have if that hussy from inside the store hadn’t walked between us and opened his passenger door.

******************** 

Paul Beckman is a real estate salesman, a snorkeler, occasionally a diver, a photographer, a grandfather, and a pretty good cook. He lost a105 year old aunt and his dog the same year and has no plans for replacing either.

www.paulbeckmanstories.com

Filed under: Commentaries | Tagged: Adams, blog, bloggers, Connecticut, contest, flash fiction writers, friends, guidelines, new flash fiction, Paul Beckman, Pittsburgh, story, submissions, two timer, web