Then What Happened?

He breathed deeply, inhaling the curve of her neck. She smelled like a rose garden in June.

She stopped mid sway and lifted her head from his shoulder. This was the moment he'd been waiting for since the first time he saw her in town.

Her lips tasted like strawberries, but not any strawberry he'd ever tasted. More like the way he always thought strawberries should taste. Sweet but not cloying, firm yet yielding. This was a taste he'd never stop craving. Stopping at the berry farm on the way home had been a very good idea.

"You might want to take the keys out of the ignition. I'd hate for your battery to die," she said, a flush traveling from her cheeks down to her shoulders. She willed her knees not to buckle beneath her.

He stepped away from her, nearly running to the driver's side door. She put a shaky hand on the hood of the truck. It was warm, and so was she. Warmer than she'd been in years.

Or something like that. We went down to the river for a picnic dinner again last night. I'm afraid I don't remember a thing my family said. I was in another world, another time, on a country road, in the dark, exploring all the possibilities such an evening would grant.

I do recall, however, that Aidan ate most of the strawberries. Feeling a tad adventurous yesterday, I sprinkled a little rose water over sliced strawberries for dessert. Avery didn't like them; she said they tasted like red licorice (her least favorite confection in the world). But Aidan and I ate them up. He even sipped the juice from the bowl when they were all gone. Poor George, I don't think he even knew that I packed strawberries.

I haven't written any fiction for more than a dozen years, not since I had to write a short story for my English 1B class back in junior college. I've always preferred research papers and essays. Dialogue, characters, plot? Never my strong suit. Twenty page paper opposing the damming of our favorite river? Bring it on.

I don't know where my snippet of a story came from, I have a few ideas where it's going, and I'm just so glad it's coming along. Thank you all so much for your kind comments on yesterday's post. I don't think I've even been so nervous hitting the "publish" button before.

Stay tuned for more. I think this might be the summer of snippets.