Flash Fiction

WHOLE SOME

by

Eric Bosse
 

“Take Ellen to the prom,” my mother told me. “She’s a nice, respectable girl.”

So I walked to Victoria Meadows Apartments, knocked on 3C, and asked Ellen Hamberger to be my date. Ellen had red hair and pale freckles. She looked over her shoulder, then back at me and said she’d go.

Ellen’s mother worked at my mother’s salon, and they were friends. When I picked up Ellen, my mother came too. She took photos, including a time delayed shot of all four of us. The bulb blinked faster until it flashed and the shutter snapped. The mothers kissed us goodbye.

Two hours later Ellen was tired of dancing, so we went for a drive. “Got any favorite parking spots?” she asked.

I said, “Like the drive-in movie?”

Ellen clacked her chewing gum. “Like the woods,” she said.

I drove to Garden of the Gods Park and found a dirt road to nowhere. I parked and cut the lights. Ellen clicked on the radio and pulled my face to hers. Soon we were naked and sweaty in the back seat. A couple minutes later it was done. We did it three more times, and I drove her home.

Our mothers stopped a jigsaw puzzle to ask about how the gym was decorated.

My mom drove back to our house. I rolled down my window and hoped the smell of sex would blow from the car.

Mom said, “You had a nice time?”

“Yes.”

“She kiss you?”

“Yes.”

“Not too much?”

“No.”

“See, I told you Ellen was a wholesome girl.”

When I got to my bedroom, I loosened my necktie and went straight for the the dictionary.

§ § §


Eric Bosse is a writer, filmmaker and Special Education teacher living and working in Colorado.

He has published stories in Exquisite Corpse. Mississippi Review, Zoetrope-All Story Extra, Paumanok Review, Nubrite, and others.

Eric has made three short films and a long one, and continues to work on a novel and two screenplays.

Eric also edits the new online journal, The God Particle which debuted November 1st, 2002.

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