I was challenged to write a drabble--short piece, less than 250 words, in response to a prompt. For this one, the prompt was "forgetfulness." Scene: Jack and Ennis at the Lazy L, down by the river on one of their skinny dipping afternoons. Enjoy!
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Jack and Ennis were lying on a blanket, listening to the sound of the river, the horses softly nickering where they stood, their reins looped over the branch of the tree.
“Hey, Mr. Memory,” said Ennis softly.
Jack smiled at him. “What old memory do you want me to dredge up today?” he said.
“I was just thinkin’,” said Ennis. “Remember that fishin’ trip—not sure when, mebbe five years ago—when we found that big grassy meadow, spent the whole day lyin’ in the sun, screwin’ on that blanket of mossy grass?”
“Sorta like we do here, ain’t it, cowboy?” said Jack, as he gave Ennis’s cock a little tug.
“Yeah, but that day…” Ennis let his voice drift off. “That day got me through many a cold winter day, I hafta say Jack. Remembering the sun, how warm it was. One of the few fuckin’ fishin’ trips we ever had when we weren’t in the fuckin’ freezin’ cold.”
“Let’s forget the bad parts, En. Let’s only remember the good parts.”
“Which bad parts, Jack?” said Ennis. “Were there bad parts?”
“Every time we fuckin’ said good bye,” replied Jack, “was a bad part. Lookin’ in yer eyes and knowin’ I wouldn’t see ‘em for four, five, six months…that was a fuckin’ bad part.”
Ennis pulled Jack in close, looking in his eyes. “Ain’t got no more o’those, cowboy,” he said. “No more bad parts, no more good byes. You can forget all that shit right now.”