Welcome to the Wednesday Briefers
flash group. The short stories have a maximum of a 1000 word count plus links
at the bottom to the other flashers. The prompts for this week are:
Line
Prompts:
Dear Baby New Year, …
5…4…3…2…1…
Word
prompts:
Toast, kiss, hangover
Night, chance, fireworks
Include:
A sparkly hat worn at a jaunty
angle
A piece of paper with a single
sentence on it
~I’m using a piece of paper with
a single sentence on it.
All That He Desires
Jules sat behind the counter, rereading the same damn
paragraph. It was eleven forty-five on December 31st. That’s right—New
Year Eve’s. Was he out, snuggling with a guy, while counting down to the New
Year? Maybe holding a glass of Champagne while streamers fell around him,
singing “Auld Lang Syne?”
Not hardly.
He, poor sap that he was, was working at a gas
station out in the middle of nowhere. What a way to ring in the New Year. But
he couldn’t complain, he’d asked to work tonight. He needed the money.
He had one semester left and he’d graduate… which
was all well and good, except he was paying for it on his own. His parents
found out he was gay his sophomore year and cut him off. His dad, in particular,
had reacted badly, ranting ‘no son of his was gay.’ He’d honestly thought his
dad was going to hit him. The things they’d said to him still made him cringe,
even after all this time. He just didn’t get it.
He liked men, so what?
As far as his parents were concerned, he’d committed
the ultimate atrocity and was dead to them. Trying to work two jobs and carry a
full schedule just might make their wish come true—these hours were killing him.
But if he could get through the next few months, graduate, and get a job, he
might make it.
“Bastards,” he mumbled and viciously bit into a
chip. He was gay, not a mass murderer.
Jules stared out at the night. It was late, cold,
and not a soul around. He wasn’t overly worried about being robbed; this was
the good part of town and the cops were always about. Even as he watched, a
patrol car cruised by. Officer Mitchell would stop by for coffee before his
shift was done. He always did. They’d gotten to be friends; Officer Mitchell
had a gay teen and he couldn’t understand Jules’s parent’s reaction, either.
A trash bag blew by the door—looked like the wind
was picking up. Jules sighed. God, he hoped it didn’t storm. That was the last
thing he needed. The night was dreary enough, that would just top it.
“Right, and my mood has nothing to do with it.” He
sipped his drink. He’d show his parents. He didn’t need them and, when he had a
good job, he’d know he’d done it on his own.
His own… God, he was tired of being on his own.
Jules wadded up the chip bag and threw it in the
trash. Maybe one day he’d come across someone whom he could call his own… but
until then, all he had was work, work, and more work. And school.
The glare of headlights caught his attention. Jules
sat on his stool, eyes locked on the expensive car that pulled up. “What a
beauty.”
Someone certainly had good taste. A tall man with shoulder
length dark hair stepped out of the vehicle, and Jules swallowed. A long black
leather coat hugged a nice frame, giving him an air of… mystery. The breeze
teased the long locks, whipping them around the stranger’s head as he
approached the store. A vibrant green scarf wrapped around the man’s throat. Even
from here, Jules could see the guy was well over six feet.
“Welcome to Stop-N-Go,” Jules said as the man entered
the store.
“Hello.” The stranger stopped and brushed his hair
back from his face. “Damn, it’s cold out there. Looks to be a bad night, huh?”
Not
so much now. Jules glanced outside and shrugged. The
wind was really whipping now. He looked back at the man and noticed the scarf
matched the green of the man’s eyes. “I’ve seen worse.”
The stranger smiled, white teeth gleaming against
dark skin. “Haven’t we all? I’m just going to use the restroom and get a
drink.”
“Through there.” Jules pointed to the back of the
store.
When the customer was no longer in sight, Jules
allowed a small sigh to escape. Now that was
what he was talking about. Why couldn’t he find a guy like that? Jesus, his
mouth was watering. Frankly he didn’t give a rat’s ass if the dude was gay or
not, he’d make for some good jerk-off material later.
Besides, a hunky man like that wouldn’t look twice
at a small guy like him, even if he was gay. On a good day, he might top five
nine. While he had a toned build, there wasn’t a spare ounce of fat on him. No,
he had to work to keep weight on his frame.
A moment later his customer walked out of the
restroom and helped himself to a bottle of water. When he got to the register,
Jules took a deep breath. Whatever aftershave the man wore smelled really good.
Jules rung him up, plus a scratch lotto ticket the man asked for.
“What do you know, it’s midnight,” the guy remarked,
glancing at his watch. “Happy New Year. May this year be all you could desire.”
“Same to you.” Jules grinned.
“Oh, I think it just might.”
Jules waited until the man left before fanning
himself. “Yeah, primo jerk-off material. Shit, I’m hard.”
*
* * *
Two hours later, Jules walked out to his old beat up
car. At lease the damn wind had stopped blowing.
“What the hell?”
Under his windshield wiper was an envelope. Quickly,
he opened it… and inside was a scratch lotto ticket—a winning lotto ticket. A
fifty thousand dollar winning lotto ticket. Jules staggered against his car, staring
at the damn thing. “Oh my…! Oh my fucking God!”
A piece of paper fell out of the envelope and
drifted to the ground. He picked it up, hand trembling, and read the one
sentence—
Maybe
this will help your year be all you desire.
TBC
Don’t forget to visit the other briefers!
~M
~M
