Surprised by chill after weeks of scorchers, she holds her bag of groceries to her chest, purchases for a solitary meal.
Two girls skip by, flaunting autumn exuberance, ignoring homework, ignoring regimen and rigor. She alone grieves sweaty embraces, August smells, dreams expired as moderate temperatures and cooler heads return.
Nancy Ludmerer lives in New York City with her husband Malcolm and cat Sandy, named after the storm he fled (right into Nancy’s arms) and Sandy Koufax. Her story “First Night” appears in Best Small Fictions 2016.
so much in these three sentences….
Thanks so much for reading, Dana, and for your kind words.
Beautiful Nancy! A complete gem of a story and a heartbreaker.
Beautiful and powerful meditation on loneliness.
Very nicely written piece, Well done.
Less is more and you nailed it!!
Sorry, I must be missing something. This is doing/saying nothing to me.
Another cold autumn day this morning and a great story that captures how so many feel as we are forced to confront this inevitable progression of our lives.
Nancy Ludmerer is amazing in her ability to evoke a world of memories & feelings & themes that all can identify with, in just a few words. The contrasting moods of ache & loneliness of the protagonist, vs. the young girls’ excitement & hopefulness, are as palpable as the changing seasons. Thank you Nancy for sharing your gift of allegory.