The Kiss

lillian

It was all they wanted for their anniversary. They’d traveled every state and hiked so many trails together. They just wanted to go back to the beginning. The old amusement park.

We brought them to the litter strewn vacant lot. We’d heard the story so many times. The Tunnel of Love where the boat rocked in dark water, pulled forward by chains. Their first kiss.

They saw the rusted turnstile; ride long gone. And as is if we weren’t there, embraced. Their kiss, strong, passionate and deep. We blushed. Our father and mother, a man and woman at their core.

amy-reese

Word Count: 100   Photo Credit: Amy Reese. Written for Friday Fictioneers, so deftly organized by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.

 

 

35 thoughts on “The Kiss”

  1. Joy Pixley January 13, 2016 / 6:52 pm

    Aw, what a sweet one! And such a great connection to the photo, too.

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    • lillian January 14, 2016 / 11:47 am

      Thanks, Joy. Glad you liked it. Tomorrow morning I’ll be reading others’ tkaes on the photo – there’s always so much diversity!

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  2. AnnMarie Roselli-Kissack January 13, 2016 / 6:59 pm

    Lillian,
    Quite beautiful this is – your words tug like the chains pulling that little boat through the love tunnel –
    the ride of a lifetime
    thank you for sharing this special piece
    am:)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lillian January 13, 2016 / 7:08 pm

      Oh AM, I always love to see your replies and do treasure your opinion. I’m enjoying this weekly flash fiction challenge. A new genre for me. We grew up near Chicago and went every summer to Riverview Amusement Park (open from early 1900s to 1967). My mom and dad went in the Tunnel of Love when they were first dating. Of course there is another side of the coin — my dad broke his ribs on The Bobs — their infamous wooden roller coaster! I myself liked the Aladdin’s Castle with its mazes, rolling barrell to walk through, and airshoots on the outside stairs that blew up our skirts! Really!

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      • AnnMarie Roselli-Kissack January 14, 2016 / 6:27 am

        Morning Lillian, really a lovely piece and beautiful in its authenticity 🙂 The images in my head put there by your gentle words are heartwarming.
        I can’t believe your poor father broke his ribs. I certainly can picture you as a child battling mazes – perhaps the reason why you’re able to coax words together to create surreal thoughts…

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  3. Björn Rudberg (brudberg) January 14, 2016 / 2:42 pm

    What a wonderful and caring story.. there are so many dark stories this week so this came as a blessing. You really pulled me into a life story just by giving the children’s perspective.

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    • lillian January 14, 2016 / 4:04 pm

      Thank you Bjorn! Thinking too much of Darth Vader, evil Ben and the Storm Troopers and decided that for today, I just could not go to the dark side! 🙂
      And then I got to thinking about parents, and how children view them. You know, they are so very smart when we’re little. Somehow they lose their smarts and become rather obtuse and embarassing when we are in our teen years. And then magically, they get smart again as we get older! 🙂 But — generally, we do not think of our parents as sexual beings….and usually if our parents are demonstrative, we only see hugs and quick kisses. Hence…the ending blush in the story 🙂

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  5. rochellewisoff January 14, 2016 / 6:22 pm

    Dear Lillian,

    Very sweet story. It made me think of an area here in KC that was once a popular amusement park and stood vacant for years.

    Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    • lillian January 14, 2016 / 7:17 pm

      Thank you Rochelle. Glad to bring up some connections…

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  6. David Stewart January 14, 2016 / 10:07 pm

    That’s a wonderful story, Lillian. When you said, “we brought them” I guessed that they were older and were being brought by their children. What a sweet ending.
    -David

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    • lillian January 14, 2016 / 10:16 pm

      So very glad you enjoyed it. Yes…older parents….Tunnel of Love a very old ride from the days of Chicago’s Riverview Park which opened in the early 1900s and closed officially in 1967.

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  7. Mike January 15, 2016 / 6:48 am

    What a wonderful story. I loved the way you used short, sharp sentences to keep the story moving. Each one fitting in perfectly with the flow of the story. Sentences like “We blushed.” say everything and I could picture the grown up children embarrassed by their parents show of affection. As an older parent, happily married for 45 years, it reminded me of how we can still make our two grown up sons blush with a simple kiss, hug or holding hands!

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    • lillian January 15, 2016 / 9:09 am

      Exactly Mike! We’ll be married 46 years Feb 7 and our 40 something year old son and daughter are the same😊. I so rarely saw my folks hug or even peck-kiss…not demonstrative at all. Sounds like you and your spouse are like me and mine — still happily in love and showin’ it after all these years😊. So nice to meet you here!

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    • lillian January 15, 2016 / 10:07 am

      So very glad you liked it! Thank you.

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  9. gahlearner January 15, 2016 / 2:24 pm

    This is beautiful and heartwarming. I also like the short sentences that made me wonder until, halfway through, I got an idea where it was going. The blushing says it all. I can’t critique other than saying: worked perfectly for me. 🙂

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    • lillian January 15, 2016 / 2:25 pm

      Thank you thank you. Would that we all should be so in love in our later years, right? 🙂

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    • lillian January 16, 2016 / 9:22 am

      Thanks for the read! Shall mosey on over to yours.

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    • lillian January 18, 2016 / 10:24 am

      Ooooh…so nice to see an exclamation point this morning!

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  13. wildbilbo January 19, 2016 / 5:44 am

    Nicely done 🙂 The romanticism of shared memory overrides the bleaker reality of the vacant lot…well done.
    KT

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    • lillian January 19, 2016 / 7:37 am

      Thank you KT, for the read and the very kind words. So nice to meet you over my first morning coffee today!

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      • wildbilbo January 19, 2016 / 8:20 am

        Pleased to meet you too, although it’s the other end of the day for me – time for bed!

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Dale January 19, 2016 / 8:47 am

    Oh so loved this. I think the hardest thing for kids (regardless of age) is to acknowledge their parents are a couple who love each other!

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      • Dale January 19, 2016 / 10:07 am

        If more parents showed their love for each other, kids would learn and have a healthy attitude about love, don’t you think?

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