55 Fiction - A Short Story

Sizzling, slate rocks warm my back as the sun beats down to bronze my body.

My hair crinkles from the seawater as I lick salt from my lips.

Waves splash against the cliffs as I read a summer novel.

Children dive into the water as I smile from the coast.

Ahh… a summer in Italy.

As I look outside my window and see snow piled high on the ground, I feel myself thinking back to this summer vacationing in Italy. One of my favorite moments in particular was in the Cinque Terre, lounging next to the sea with my husband and feeling totally relaxed. With this story, I wanted to get back to that moment. As the author I wanted my senses to come alive and have the reader feel, hear, and see this setting. While writing it I felt myself using risky words due to the romantic aroma of the sea and weather, therefore I toned it back because this isn’t a Fifty Shades of Grey novel. Originally it was 58 words at completion, and I only had to tweak a few. Overall, this was a nice brain break during my planning time!