Choosing

I might start posting some short stories here. Some have been published and disappeared into the secrecy of pages between covers surrounded by books sitting undisturbed on shelves. Others have not been published and might never see the light of day.

The very short one below was written a looooong time ago. I've never believed in what this micro-story is about and I still don't, but the idea is a nice one for the purpose of stories. I can't remember what prompted this story, but I do remember that I sent it in to a radio station for some arts thing and they selected it to read on air. I was driving at the time and was caught by surprise when they mentioned the title. I pulled over to the side of the road and everything seemed to stop because my words were coming out of the radio.

It was a nice little moment in time, and I hope others find the story as warm and fuzzy as it's intended to be. The radio announcer liked it, then speculated because of the androgynous nature of my name, "Do you reckon Lee is a girl or a guy? Hmm... I reckon she's probably a girl."

Enjoy.



CHOOSING

Cats, she said simply and slowly.

He gazed down as though she had tossed the idea before him for his scrutiny.

Cats, he repeated, yes cats could be nice.

This really meant that he thought he had a better idea. She knew this. She knew him.

You have a better suggestion? She asked.

In his strange way, he smiled.

What this time, she wondered. Horses? Birds? Or white-eyed fish from the bottom of the ocean? She thought about cats – fur, warmth, laziness, sleep.

What could be better than cats? She asked.

Again he smiled.

People, he replied.

She thought about this. He watched her think about it.

Eventually, after a time, she shared his smile.

Human beings, she said, a good idea.

They joined hands, as formless entities might join hands, and drifted down once more.