This week Pegman took us to Goizueta, Navarre in Spain. Thanks, Karen. Now I want to visit this gorgeous country.
A delicate balance, our relationship. You down beside the road, me up on the hill. My husband leaves. Your wife returns. My husband returns. Your wife goes into town.
A mere half-hour passes in between. When no one watches we exchange winks and nods. Touch hands in our kitchen or your hallway.
Our children play together. Sadly we use their playtime to exchange notes; tuck papers inside their tiny socks. It’s not our fault. We do what we can.
I don’t believe either of us remembers how this started. Church? The market? Whispers in the alley?
But we must keep up our relationship. We must, for if we don’t, one or all of us will surely die. Times have come to that.
We no longer know which side we’re on, but we do know our secret exchanges will keep our families from dying in our country’s ugly war.
Excellent and evocative, Lish. I want to visit there as well. There’s a village where cars are outlawed.
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Oh, my kind of place! Thanks for reading, Josh.
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Beautiful shot and lovely prose to go with it. I dont know the Basque history well enough to guess which conflict or which regime forced these two into their illicit correspondence, but it reminds me of movies full of spycraft and messages or enemies’ plans, hidden in umbrella handles (darn! That would have been a good way to go on FF!). The way you write it, it sounds like adultery but now i wonder if there is such a thing as political adultery. And I suppose it has two names: Treason and Resistance.
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Thanks for such a nice comment. These two are in resistance mode, doing everything they can to keep their families alive. Cheers! Alicia
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Nice relationship, symbiotic!
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Thanks, Abhijit!
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I love how you make us think this is a love affair only to find out they are acting as spies to save their families. Well done!
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Thanks, Dale! I’m glad that worked. The hardest part of this was finding a title that didn’t give the story away.
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I know what you mean!!
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You build up the story so skilfully, subtly – great writing. Excellent last two lines.
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Thanks so much.
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An excellent story, Lish, one of your best. The way you describe their contacts prompts us to think of adultery – until you tell us it’s an even more dangerous liaison. But, you know, I felt something more there; what began as membership of the resistance has led on to a warm physical affection between the two – not consummated, but there suffusing everything they do.
I love the title too!
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Thanks so much, Penny. I suppose if one needs to keep such secrets a certain affection would arise. I hadn’t thought of that.
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Oh, I love how the children are de facto carrier pigeons.
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That made me smile. Thanks, Mr. Writerfellow!
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Wonderful how you start out suggesting one relationship and then reveal something quite different.
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Thanks, Sarah Ann. Have you written a story for Pegman? Cheers!
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Nope. I look at the Pegman prompts each week… and that’s usually as far as I get. Must try harder.
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Wonderfully done, Lish. Well woven, the tension ratchets and the reveal gave me a gasp. So gorgeous!
I have to agree about Spain! I’m ready to go right now myself. I had no idea how lovely it was.
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Thanks, Karen. My friend has a friend who owned a B&B in Spain. I wish I would have gone there while she still had it. I’d met her in the states and she was delightful. I’m going to put Spain on my bucket list right underneath Africa!
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What very clever writing! Leading us along the adultery route, only to raise the bar and show the risk to life and limb, that all are in danger if their relationship fails. Evocative and emotional writing
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Thank you, Lynn.
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My pleasure Lish
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