Cold-Eyed Triage Nurses In High-Heeled Boots by Angel Obregon Forced into a Lesbian encounter in the fitting room. [Rated R] [2,527 words]
The Way To Bet by Angel Obregon The horrible result of reading a book called The Pleasures of Probability by Richard Isaac. [1,035 words]
...And Everything Goes Black by Darcy K Metz A nightmarish story about a young man, two taxi drivers, and one unforgettable wom... [2,517 words]
The Winds Of Change by Darcy K Metz This is the first short story I wrote based on characters in a novel I tried writing when I... [7,246 words]
The Trouble With Carla by Darcy K Metz This story follows a previous one, "The Winds of Change." This story is more of a horror... [4,905 words]
A Jennifer Love-Affair by Darcy K Metz A completely false story of a treeplanter from Vancouver who meets and falls in love wit... [3,869 words]
The Wicked Witch Of Creative Writing by Gary Donnelly Non-fiction/fiction. [1,418 words]
Dark Rebirth by Kerry L. Schofield Dark Rebirth is the story of a man named Senwick, who inherits on the death of his mysterious aged... [7,117 words]
Satan Smiled by Albert Davis - [3,737 words]
The Fourth Floor Landing by J. Michael Kearney A young firefighter recounts how a pompous Captain finally got his wish. [6,364 words]
Forever And Always by Virginia A. Sheppard A young woman is tormented by a decision she must make. Her four year old daughter lies help... [1,567 words]
Spring Break by Arlene Mason Another adventure for Keith Richardson, Private Investigator. This time his vacation is interupte... [4,784 words]
Hidden Reality by Lisamarie Jones Christina's lunch-break is not quite as it seems. [736 words]
Autumn Wind by Dorothy Getchell About an old man who must learn to deal with his wife's death. A very sad but moving story, if I m... [1,461 words]
Art Lovers by M J Martino A Guardian Angel's simple manipulation of fate allows two soulmates to meet for the very first, and ... [2,481 words]
There Be Dragons by Scott Jones A young couple on an afternoon jaunt get more than they bargained for. [1,809 words]
The Empty Bay by Alex Empire [461 words]
On The Other Side by Lisamarie Jones This is a story about a young girl who is tired of being pushed around. She takes matters int... [1,134 words]
The Witness by Thomas J Misuraca A Kafka-esque story in which a man finds himself and his loved ones in danger if he reveals informa... [2,244 words]
The Perfect Kiss by A Shockley A teenager wonders about the word "Love." She begins to believe that what she has heard about... [1,959 words]
The Running Man by Eric Allen Written for freshman English class, to explore the concept, meaning, and definition of heroism.... [1,091 words]
Come Back, Mr. Mojo Risin' by Noel Dolan Kennedy James lost her beloved brother in the Vietnam War. A year later she sees leg... [4,245 words]
God's Messenger by Tom Di Roma About the influence an elderly gentleman has on the patrons of the diner where he has been froz... [5,970 words]
The Good Gun by Russ Bauer A lone women prepares to leave a city falling into chaos. She also has to protect herself from som... [1,564 words]
A Day In Dell by Barbara Villarreal Old west setting... good vs evil. [1,969 words]
My Boy's Best Friend by Melissa Allen About a girl who can't stand her boyfriend's bestfriend and then one day she finds out she... [4,020 words]
Music To My Ear by Melissa Allen About a girl who cannot stand a guy and then she has to sing with him in her band and realizes ...
It's A Wonderful Life by Jennifer M Haynes The story of a man surviving (and wishing he hadn't) a nuclear war. What happened before ... [1,950 words]
The Jigsaw Puzzle by Jennifer M Haynes A teenager tries to free himself from the sickenly perfect town he lives in, to make it into ... [1,084 words]
A Teen's Diary Entry by Rachel Elaine Reeves A teenager writes a diary entry after driving drunk and killing four people. Her chilling... [295 words]
Sticks by Charmaine L. Glass With the help of an overweight classmate, an underweight girl finds her hidden courage to overcome teasi... [877 words]
Always With You, A Collection by Toni Jaquay Lynch Always With You - It's a story of undying love. [514 words] I Will Feel It - It's... [149 words]
The Big Bang by Darcy K Metz A short short about a man who meets himself. [196 words]
Escape To Samsun by J A Melody A tale of three comrades, chartering their epic path to freedom, and to escape the horror that... [2,450 words]
Haul Out The Holly by Jennifer L O'callaghan This is a holiday story I wrote for a writing class, inspired by what my sisters and I call... [2,087 words]
Warriors' Mired Blades by Daniel A. Souers A true medieval and inspiring masterpiece that brings the reader within the mind of a gr... [1,799 words]
Fake Reality by Erin D. Traynum Covers the thoughts and influences of a gold digger at the moment when she commits suicide. [1,034 words]
Through The Window by Erin D. Traynum This story is about a nine year old girl who is being sexually abused. [1,211 words]
Florence
Deposit Three Billion Dollars For The Next Two Minutes by Angel Obregon This is the horrible result of watching 3 X-FILES re-run... [2,931 words]
Quarter Of A Century by Drexler McStyles This short story is an obscene tale of insanity and excessive drug use set in Las Vegas. [4,084 words, Rated R]
Destroy The Link by Jennifer M Haynes Story of a girl who comes home from school to find things are wrong, and then realizes that sh... [3,333 words]
Packed With Peanuts by Jennifer L O'callaghan This is a flash fiction piece I wrote for a writing class about an attempted late night sna... [731 words]
Bovinza by Duane A Wood/Caveman A 12 year old boy has a peculiar, reoccuring dream about, of all things, a cow. To discover its meaning... [898 words]
Shear Trouble by Addison Gast A short story. [514 words]
Blues In The Closet by Victoria King Angel Obregon submitted this for Victoria King who is operating without the Net in mor... [3,998 words]
Checkout Time by Louise Friedman It's a tale of too young, self destructive, certifiable girl who married a slug and allowed him t... [1,664 words]
A Quarrel In The Forest by Darcy K Metz An argument between a cedar tree and a stone resolves itself after much time. [161 words]
Remember The Bubbles by Dana Drew The story of an elderly man rekindling his youth with the help of a playful child. [623 words]
The Mistake by Kavan Tate drama of a boy's decision gone wrong [504 words]
Mike and Sadie Mae by Judith Z Marrs Short story. [4,038 words]
A Work of Art by Roy L Pickering Jr The tale of man who feels trapped in the merely serviceable existence he believes he has settled ... [3,944 words]
Elizabeth by Christine Dorothea-Maris A short mystery story about a widow, taken in by her late family's husband in the late 1890's, who ha... [255 words]
Home by Matt Matics This short story (or possible beginning to a longer piece) is ostensibly "about" a boy returning home from... [3,299 words]
Cold Wind by David H. Paniagua The short story of three soldiers who've deserted the battlefield of WWI, only to discover they've be... [1,345 words]
The Fortune Teller by Michael J McGrath A group of friends encounter a mysterious fortune teller who changes lives. [975 words]
Transition by Oliver Thomas Coles Brackenbury A man trapped between two great fears of the unknown, one which he has left behind and one which mus... [916 words]
Yasha Tafipolsky by S Lichtenstein A story of the Russian Revolution, its effect on the people, and the struggles of the Tafipols... [8,644 words]
Twenties by Larry D. Griffin Flash Fiction [668 words]
Tiki's Revenge by Edward L Wier A short-story of a lesser god's dwindling popularity in the spirit world. The Christians and t... [8,078 words]
Outlaws by M H Doty It is a irreverent piece about falling in lust in a beautiful tropical town with an outlaw-type guy! [2,500 words]
The Cake in His Pocket by M Betette A dark comedy about a very disfunctional and very happy family. [850 words]
Blue Dog Days by W Delaney This short story is about an ex-politician turned political writer named John Gerrick. The story ... [2,000 words]
The Doona Drag, A Collection by S Lichtenstein The Doona Drag - A humorous look at the plight of modern middle-aged man, coping w... [650 words]
The Girl in the Ocean by Edward D Adams Two women are dead and only one man cares about finding out who did it. In catching the ... [4,300 words, Mystery]
(Un)Faithful by P D Woo How do you forgive someone you love? What if you'd betrayed them before and they'd forgiven you? W... [1,050 words]
Leaving by Murray Evans Leaving home for not just a new country, but a new world. [4,050 words]
The Perfect Joke by J A Young A dark and funny slice of life detailing a boy's search for perfection. [1,800 word]
Bazaar by W I B R Smith This story was inspired (very) loosely by an incident which happened to me in college, back in 1991, whe... [5,500 words]
Age Before Beauty by Mary Ann Savage Women get bored and restless in some of these apartment complexes. Even old ladies. Let the g... [1,900 words]
Weeds by Mary Ann Savage This is not really about flowers, not really about love. [1,350 words]
Adult Bookstore by Sal Morano Experiencing frustration and stress, a reformed porno junkie comes face to face with the urge t... [4,500 words]
The Magic Ball
The Beast
Pfarfenagle
The Sheriff
The Alien
Vampires
Jealousy
Corrine and Victoria
Destiny
The Death Reader
Early One Morning
Lost Four Words
Lavender Moon
Sweet Angela
Iridescent Imagery
Christmas Shopping
It's Been There...
Burnt Out
Stolen
Tinfoil Memories
A Pang of Pity
The Way It Ends
Miss America
Don't Ask
Obsession
Tales from the Altar
Waves
In the Cards
Billy
Looking At Me
The Gift
Suspension of Disbelief
Bingo Blood
The Belief
Aunt Rose's Revenge
Lytle Creek Trek
Utter Untruths
Protect and Serve
The Figure
The Last Tenant
Into the Knight
Salugi at Starbucks
The Parent Hunt
The Last Laugh
Mother's Day
The Cop
The Red Eagle
The Grand Old Party
Lacy and the Bear
Locusts
Unconfessed Sins
Rules of Civil Procedure
Do Unto Others
A Stranger Dressed Black
Strike Force - The Reckoning
The Doorway
Coping
Sniper Hunt, A Collection
The Slayer
Some days you're the pigeon...
Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 [50]
| |
TITLE (EDIT)
Florence |
DESCRIPTION
A rather banal love story.
[762 words] |
AUTHOR
Gérard Ducasse |
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
An artist [ poetry, plays, short stories, painting and sculpture].
[June 2014] |
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (5)
Conte De Noël (Foreign) Conte [French]. [1,050 words]
L'Arbre Amoureux (Foreign) Quatre poèmes en prose: L'arbre amoureux. Le rouge-gorge. La descente aux enfers. L'arbre à chandelles. [752 words]
Le Mystère De La Lune (Foreign) (Conte mauricien) [French]. [722 words]
L'Homme Cloué (Foreign) Deux écrits de "La maison des Ombres": L'homme cloué. L'homme qui doutait. [704 words]
Pandora's Box (Plays) The play is about the unforeseen hazards of genetic research. [6,896 words]
|
Florence
Gérard Ducasse
I will call her Florence .This is not her real name, of course.
I was a newly qualified doctor at the time and that was in the early sixties. Trite as that may sound, she reminded me of the madonnas of Raphael, as she bent over her newborn child.. She was a single mother, and single mothers in those days were tolerated if they behaved with sufficient humility and did not flaunt the obvious: that they had borne a child out of wedlock. She had brought her baby boy to my office. He was only two weeks old. She was herself about eighteen years old, maybe. She lived with an aunt. The father of the child had disappeared from her life.
Thereafter, she would bring her child regularly for his development checks, and for the sundry ailments all children suffer from. She was always well-dressed, but with a quiet chic. She spoke in a measured and calm voice. She had beautiful black eyes, a sweet, charming smile, and a liquid radiance hung about her person. I am sure my heart beat a little faster, everytime I saw her with her baby in the waiting-room.
As the years went by, I saw Florence and her boy every now and then at the office. He was a healthy boy and, as he grew older, I saw less and less of them. She was as perfect a mother as one would wish. It seemed every fibre of her being was bent to her child’s development and happiness, and yet, she did not dote upon him. Her love was not exaggerated or silly. She was always poised, reasonable, warm , loving and lovable. I suspected that she worked for some “couture” business in town, for her dresses were always in such perfect taste.
I think that her boy must have been about four years old, when the dark secret that clothed her life was revealed to me. One evening, I had been invited to dinner by a friend of mine, who was staying at one of the city’s hotels. After dinner, he left me in the hotel lobby to get a newspaper. As I sat in a corner of the lobby waiting for his return, my attention was caught by a group of young women, escorted by some young fellows, who were leaving the hotel to board a limousine. The women wore slinky dresses with deep décolletés. Some of them had slits on the side of their dresses running up to their thighs. They laughed loudly. Some smoked cigarettes from long thin amber-coloured cigarette-holders. They exhibited an air of nonchalance and sensuality. Their escorts’ hands slid on their bodies without any apparent show of resistance on their part. They aired their noisy good humour as they walked towards their waiting limousine. I suspected they were a group of escort girls entertaining their clients. Intrigued and curious, I got up and watched them board the limousine. One of the girls, as she got into the car, turned around, looked in my direction and our eyes briefly met. She was Florence.
She never brought her child to my office again.
Years later, late one night, I was called to the emergengy department of our hospital, to see a boy who had been brought in unconscious. He had been knocked down by a car. The boy was about eight years old. Luckily, he was only concussed. He had a minor fracture and a few bad bruises ; nothing really serious. The mother of the child arrived soon after. It was Florence.She looked older of course, but she was still very beautiful. She was very worried. She feared the worst for her child . I reassured her and explained that we would admit her boy, to set his fracture and to keep an eye on him for the night. I invited her to stay with him, and she eagerly accepted. Next morning , the young fellow, sporting his cast was discharged home, as lively as a sparrow. As I wished her good-bye, I remarked that I had not seen her for quite a while. We shook hands. She smiled shyly, and left.
A few days later I received through the post a folded card, illustrated with a very delicate picture of one of Raphael’s madonnas. Life has these coincidences.The sender had not written anything in it, but had enclosed, within its fold, a dried flower. It was pale blue, very transparent, with thin fine veins. I held it against the morning light and blew on it. The soft breeze carried it away.
|
READER'S REVIEWS (2)
DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"I wonder why you call this a "banal" love story? I think it is absolutely outstanding in a number of ways. The tenderness of the doctor's feelings come over beautifully, as does the sense of the hopelessness of his love, rendered impossible by social distance, profesional reserve, age difference, his sense of awkwardness about the whole thing. The girl's feelings too are implied, never directly expressed, and yet we feel we understand her completely. What an incredible amount you have condensed into so few words. It is highly unusual to find a successful love story written by a man, and this one is in the front rank of the genre: touching, sensitive, understated. " -- David Gardiner, London, England.
"This is a beautiful story, and so expertly written considering English is presumably not your first langusge. It shames me to think that a man of different nationality can write better English than I do. Only one sentence spoiled the flow of this lovely piece. "and our eyes briefly crossed" ugh boss-eyed lovers! [Corrected to "briefly met"] Other than that teeny-tiny quibble ...beautiful. I would have like to see them get together but then maybe that would have taken a perfect story and made it corny. " -- Sooz, Dalton, Cumbria, England.
TO DELETE UNWANTED REVIEWS CLICK HERE! (SELECT "MANAGE TITLE REVIEWS" ACTION) |
|
Submit Your Review for Florence
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.
|
|
Submit Your Rating for Florence
|
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 1999 Gérard Ducasse |
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
December 1999 |
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2628
|
|
