Creative Writing – Susanna, part one
The sweet burnt smell filled Anthony’s inner nostrils as the waiter passed behind him. “Hmm, fajitas, those smell good.” Tony as his friends called him was meeting an old friend this early autumn evening. It’s been 40 years since he even thought of Susanna. He was very surprised to receive her phone call the day before. They had never been sweethearts, at least that’s how he felt. Tony knew she had a major crush on him in high school. Sure they had gone on a few dates back then. Tony wasn’t a bad-looking guy back then, at least that’s what he thought. “No trouble with the lady’s.” Now he was rounding the final years of his fifties. After a lifetime of experiences, he was no longer that go-lucky youth Susanna had fallen for. After time in the army, three kids, and a failed marriage; he was now a very grumpy old man. Tony waited in a booth wearing his favorite blue cap. A proud veteran Tony’s cap sported a VA patch. He wears it to cover the bold spot he started getting in his early thirties. Susanna didn’t know he was bold now, at least he didn’t think so. “Would she still want to meet this old grumpy old man?”
Tony feared she wouldn’t recognize him or worst, she would see him and one step turn around walk out the door. “Forty years, it’s a lot of time, we’ve lived our lives……people change…….She’ll have changed too.” He wondered if he’d even recognize her. Susanna, with her curly strawberry blond hair. It use to always remind him of a summer sunset. Maybe she was already sitting in the restaurant, at a table, or at the bar. Deciding if she still wanted to meet. Why did she want to meet anyways? Tony realized he didn’t really know. Her call was short and quick, “Hi Tony, How have you been, Wow it’s been a long time, hope things have been well, can we meet at Blue Corn, Tomorrow at 7:00, See you there….” Did he even say a word to her? Those short statements were all he really remembered from the conversation. Did she say more? Did she say why she wanted to meet? Tony was so surprised by the call, it had all happened so fast, too fast. He looked through the half-open blinds out the window. It was getting darker. The nights had started rolling in sooner this week. “Shorter days and longer nights”, he always liked this time change during the Fall season. It was a breezy fall evening, much like the one he remembered seeing Susanna last. It had been homecoming, the night of the big game. The night of the famous and tragic accident. The accident changed everything that senior year in high school.
This blog post was originally published on my other website Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Ralph’s Art Blog.