PRESENTING REALITY

We sat down. Another, older, couple stood up. He helped her with her coat and she helped him. They left.

Not exactly a story.

But when it comes to writing real life, you can add a lot by how you understand it, and by how you present it.

That moment became -

WHEN WE GROW UP

You know those dreams you have of what you want to be when you grow up?

The elderly couple had been sitting a while, having lunch. Perhaps they’d stiffened up. Rising afterwards, he lifted her coat, holding it while she – with difficulty – got her arms into the sleeves. I was going to compliment him on being a gentleman. But, I waited.

He lifted his own coat. The first arm went in easily enough but, despite repeated tries, he just couldn’t connect with that second sleeve. Despite being about eighteen inches shorter than him, his wife helped him on with his coat. They sealed the deal with a kiss and left.

Both well past the final flush of youth, each depending on, and caring for, the other.

My sweetheart squeezed my arm to let me know she’d seen. And we both agreed – that’s what we wanted to be when we grow up!

*

As Francis Gay stories go, it's nothing extraordinary. I would be amazed if the couple thought they had done anything worth writing about. But I think I presented it reasonable well.

I sent it away twenty minutes later. And that's lunch paid for.