Hope (a short story)

The floor was littered with unspoken promises 

disguised as flattened cups that once held bad beer.

Even now did he feel the grief that came with the thought of never seeing her again. 

Once they had been lovers but tonight they had been no more than guests 

at yet another party he attended that year.

Hoping to be able to forget her.

Hoping to meet her again.

It was hope that made him drift like a leaf on the wind from venue to venue. 

From woman to woman.

It was hope that caused his sleepless nights. 

Nights he spent in the arms of what was now his imaginary lover.

He might have had so much but by now had lost so much

that nothing was left to him but hope.

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

I just lost my part time job and am not making ends meet via entertainment because of covid, so a donation (click) is much appreciated:

Can your feelings be fake?

You don't like being lied to. I get that. So why do you like soaps and fantasy novels? Because the fake characters in those fake situations constantly give you the truth? Because you want to believe that one dragon in that one novel actually lay a golden egg?

Why do you get emotional when a favourite character in a movie or book is in distress?

Because your mind tricked you into thinking that person - or dragon - is real.

There are people whose endorfine levels rise when the soft voice of Siri talks to them. Because they like 'her' and research shows people find A.I. generated faces more trustworthy (click) than real faces.

It seems we really like to be fooled. It's why we love magic shows and keep voting for politicians that promise us our lives will be better if only we would vote for them. Although we know that they are not known for keeping the promises they make in election time. We even go as far as to defend our favourite politician when others point out to us they have been lying. Again.

So why do we like liars? Could it be that we prefer to hear 'You look great!' instead of 'Your hair is a mess and that colour shirt really doesn't suit you.'? 

My guess is that that is because we don't want to feel bad. Basically it comes down to this:

a person - or dragon - might be fake, but our feelings are real.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer people to be completely honest with you all the time or is it okay to believe the occasional lie?

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

I just lost my part time job and am not making ends meet via entertainment because of covid, so a donation (click) is much appreciated:

The same experience (a short story)

From a distance he saw how happy she was. 

He would have preferred it differently, though. 

Not that he didn't want her to be happy, 

he would have liked to be the one she was happy with.

Ankle-deep in water he marched his wellingtons through the surf.

A stiff cold breeze made him shiver and he closed his eyes. 

He was one with the air, the water and the earth.

Wind-blown and soul-tied.

He knew her to be somewhere ahead of him 

and that they were not together. 

But that was all-right, 

because they shared the same experience.

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon