100 words on love: Write and win
Posted by Susan Rich | Posted in authors, editors, richwriting, susan rich, Susan Rich Talks show updates, w4wn.com, writers, writing | Posted on 13-02-2012 | 7 Comments
Your first love.
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It doesn’t matter if we’re 6 or 60, that heart-rush comes to us all. Sometimes it lasts…and sometimes it’s yesterday’s news before the paper is even printed.
That’s what this week’s writing prompt is: Give us 100 words about your first love – that boy or girl who carried your heart away.
Just post your love story in the Comments section of this blog, and you might win a prize — a copy of my book, Write it Rich! Tips for Reluctant Writers.
And don’t forget to tune in to Susan Rich Talks…Living the Writing Life every Monday morning, 8 am PT, 11 am ET on the All Women’s Radio Network, 4w4n.com.
~sr~
“Is this Susan? Were you at that keggard a few weeks ago…we danced and you gave me your number? And, well, I lost it. I remembered your first name…but not your last. So I’ve been calling every Susan in the college directory…
That’s you? I found you? Really!
So, um, hi. Yeah, my name is (first husband). Do you want to go 4-wheeling with us this weekend? In the snow, right, my buddy’s got an old Landcruiser and we’ll go with his girlfriend. We’ll bring a picnic, some hot chocolate.
What’s that? How many Susan’s are there?
I called 36 before I got to you.”
I knew it was just a summer fling. We both did. I never even worried that he was going to be a captain and he would be away most of the time – it would be his wife’s problem.
Fastforward to 8 years later. The only thing I know for sure is that he’s the one I truly love. And hearing his voice on Valentine’s Day makes my day. I don’t even care that he’s away, everyday to us is Valentine’s Day. And as we prove each day, “closeness has nothing to do with distance”.
I still wear his ring. It’s twenty-five years and then some since I last saw him and maybe I’d walk on by without recognising him if I saw him today. But the way he was then – I can still see him clear as day.
I haven’t hankered after him all this time – I’ve been blessed with a truly happy marriage. But the first cut is the deepest and that cut sure was deep. I don’t regret losing my heart to him – but sometimes can’t help wishing he’d held onto it just a little bit longer.
There I was, a skinny clueless girl, in the midst of a throng of sweaty, wrestling men. I had convinced myself to join my university’s judo club so I could meet guys. Boy, I didn’t realize what I’d gotten myself into. Though physically weak and very, very clueless, I threw myself into it. Luckily they all went easy on me. One judo guy caught my eye. He was blonde, kind, and had the most beautiful, blue eyes. Today, two years later, I gaze into those eyes. He is my first love and he makes me very, very happy.
My first love was a pair of mice who got cancer and had to be drowned in a bathtub. Not a promising beginning.
My second love was a rat. Black and white, big bright eyes, and dumb as dishwater. He’d be strolling along in his Habitrail and suddenly see — yikes! — a long pink worm floating in the air behind him! Horrors! He’d run and it followed. We’d distract him with food to stop him running away from his tail.
My third love was an actual human being with the personality of some less appealing critter, like a plague flea. I was better off with rodents.
Jed was red-headed, aloof and the third-grade sweetheart. We used to play Run-Catch-Kiss, and I always pursued him, but he was too swift. Then, we were parted – split into different schools. Flash forward to the first day of high school. James was now a puberty-riddled teenager – awkward, uncomfortable, and wiry red-hair. I gasped. Was this the boy I so loved? The boy I sent a secret love letter to? He half-smiled at me, remembered the chase, eyes glazed by teenage boy fantasies. But I glanced away, saw new prospects, and made sure to choose more carefully next time.
Thanks all for sharing your stories – these are great. We’ll announce winner on Monday’s show, 2/20/2012.