flash fiction story

Something Like Alvaro

“Something Like Alvaro”

 

 

Jay and Courtney were the coolest and happiest couple in the whole town, everyone wanted to be just like them. They had been going out since Courtney was in middle school and didn’t plan on breaking up at any moment. Courtney, the captain of the cheerleader squad, who was 18, walked every morning with her cheerleader outfit through the hallways of Saint Joseph’s Academy as all the guys sweat and look at her from head to toe, “What a goodie” they all said. Jay, on the other hand, was this “bad” and “rough” guy, who wore leather jackets and rode a matte black Yamaha R6, he was 24 and had already graduated from college. Well everything was perfect from everyone’s point of view, except by the fact that Jay was the most jealous person there was. Courtney was the prettiest of them all and wasn’t allowed, by Jay’s commands, to talk to boys, though of course she did, she was tired of it.

 

It was already spring break, Courtney’s SENIOR spring break, and she planned on visiting her friend Lucia, who lived in Madrid, together with her sister Cecile. The Connor sisters were so excited, though Jay wasn’t, he was sure something bad would happen, he was mad, FURIOUS, he didn’t like what was going on. Well, he was going to go with his whole family to LA beach so that should do for the moment. Jay left for vacations before the Connor sisters did, so they went to the airport by taxi. As they climbed the stairs to the plane, they drank their Starbuck’s coffee happily and sang to The Killer’s “Mr. Brightside”. Courtney had met Lucia in a summer camp 5 years ago and hadn’t seen her since. Her excitement filled her with such grace, she just couldn’t keep herself from smiling the whole time. As they arrived to Madrid’s airport after a LONG airplane ride, there she was, Lucia standing with a sign that said “Connor Sisters”. Courtney and Cecile ran to Lucia and hugged her, they were so glad to see her. “Hola niñas vengan! Hay muchas cosas que hacer, apúrense!”. Lucia lived alone in Madrid, her parents had died three years ago in a car crash and she was old enough to rent an apartment with her inheritance. She, of course, had a boyfriend named Jose Luis, who was driving a baby blue Beatle, waiting at the airport doors for the girls to climb in.

 

That first day they had planned on riding horses. As soon as Courtney had signal she called Jay, of course, to tell him how the airplane ride was and how she was so happy to see Lucia.

 

“What are your plans for today”, said Jay.

 

 “We are going to ride horses baby!”, Courtney said.

 

 “Are there going to be any boys around?”, Jay said.

 

“I really don’t know baby, but that doesn’t matter does it? You should trust me”, Courtney said.

 

“You know I do Courtney, but boys are boys! Don’t you dare talk to one. Just don’t!”, Jay said.

 

“Well okay. You wish”, Courtney said and suddenly hung up.

 

So they arrived, this beautiful green fields full of grass and all sorts of animals. There they were, all of Jose Luis’s friends. And there he was, Alvaro. Courtney had met Alvaro the day she turned 18, well not actually met him, but talked to him by face time when Courtney had called her to wish her a happy birthday. They both were born on the same day and the moment Alvaro saw Courtney he knew he NEEDED to meet her though Lucia had warned her about Jay. Of course, Courtney knew about what Alvaro had said and so was really nervous. She was going to evade him, run from him, keep away from talking to him….. “Hey there!”, Alvaro said. Courtney felt her whole body shiver, her legs paralyzed. “Hey”, Courtney answered shyly. “Let’s ride. Everyone choose your horses. Courtney and Cecile, since you have never ridden before you need to go with someone”. “I’ll go with Lucia!”, Cecile said. Cecile had a boyfriend as well and really didn’t want to mess things up. Courtney was looking for someone to go with and they had all already left, except Alvaro. She knew everything was planned by all of them…. How dare they plan.. “Climb up”, said Alvaro. So Courtney had no way out. As she hopped on and wrapped her arms around him she knew Jay wouldn’t be near to…

Author's Notes/Comments: 

I really enjoyed writing this piece of literature. 

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Oh mighty Finals

Marco Martínez A01281612

Flash Fiction story: Oh mighty Finals.

The most terrifying, atrocious and catastrophical week for college students is, without a doubt, finals week. No one is safe, no one can
evade it, every single one of us needs to pass through it in order to achieve greatness and peace. Some will say there’s no hope for their souls, others say it’s just a big lie, but the truth is that, my friends, it’s the most problematic chapter in the life of any student. People every day give their best effort to achieve high grades in order to be safe for the judgment day. Class by class, day by day, every credit we can score is valuable. There’s also different kinds of people when talking about students. This are: the gifted, the normal, the lazy and the chosen ones. When talking about Finals, the gifted or the super Duper-I’m-the-best-at-everything-in-school guys are the ones who do not sweat a drop in order to achieve not only a good
grade, but also perfection in a way only god (and the teacher obviously) know. This people often react indifferently to all legends and myths and are also not intimidated by anything in their way, I know, the dream. Secondly on the list, the normal ones. I believe almost everyone can belong to this category due to the realism of it. The normal students are the ones that give their very best and almost everything they need in order to achieve a good grade and even though sometimes s…ugar happens, they always try it again and again until their goal is achieved. Third on the list, the lazy ones. This kind of people is the one that have never ever been religious until they need to approve Chemistry/Physics/Math etc. Somehow, they suddenly praise the lord and give offerings for them to see a black number on the report card. This people is the major prey of the week of finals, this people often seek for refugee on the gifted ones at the final moment, but even though they can run, they can never hide from the horrifying red hands of the finals. Now, you may be asking, who are the chosen ones? this people, I believe, are somehow a direct decedent of any holy or mighty god or creature, why? Because this guys are the ones who just by seeing them, you can think of something like “I don’t know how this son
of a gun is still here”. This dudes seem supremely lazy, disordered and unconcerned about their life or future. To make it simple, they seem like if you give them a baby, they’ll end up losing it. However, they are miraculously good at school and most of the times, very nice people.  So, back in track, this are in brief the types of students existent in the world of College. Most of the times, all the groups interact with each other, they exchange contacts, have a good time and overall are very good friends, but during finals week its every man for himself. The most accurate way to define what finals week is for a student is the story of The Hunger Games. When in a study group, you don’t actually care about other people passing the test, you don’t even worry if they get absolutely destroyed on the exam or if they suddenly become the next Nobel Prize winner on x-science category.
As I wrote before, in the end, it’s every man for himself. And so it is at the moment of truth. It’s your final exam. You enter the room, take the seat at the very very front of the classroom, (because your zodiac sign told you that today is your lucky day) you pray in every language you know, hoping for the best, and you leave your fate in the hands of whoever god you prayed (Jesus, Allah, Newton, Hemingway) until you hear that sound, the sound of the heels of your teacher who has a huge suitcase with around 1000 pages inspired in human tears and begins to hand in the exams, in that very moment you disconnect from reality and access a new place in your brain, specially designed for that very moment, the moment in which everything is decided, the moment in which you know If you are going to defeat your demons, make your effort count and completely destroy this exam. (729 words)

 

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The green hat

The Green Hat

 

Richard designs hats- Ordinary hats, funny hats, elegant hats, casual hats- any kind of hat. Richard is a very old man so he has trouble following hats’ patterns. Some of his designs are perfect and others are just ok.

 

The town’s villagers always considered him a friendly and gentleman. No one ever knew that he hasn’t ever married. He spent all his life as a solitary person who did not like problems.

The Town’s traditional festival was coming soon, so the villagers begun planning the celebration with months of anticipation. This year they wanted something different, so they considered a good idea: to throw a party and  buy all Richard’s hats, since his sales had fallen in lately.

The Town’s ballroom was located in the public auditorium and the party was almost ready. Everyone cooperated with food, music and extra ornaments, it was an special occasion, that’s why people care about all the small details for the night.

 

The Party’s eve came. Everyone got elegant and funny hats too. Each hat reflected the personality of each person.

There was a special green hat. You could see it from any point you where but it was difficult to figure out whom hat it was. The mysterious man everyone wanted to see was Tom, the town’s clown . He was making jokes at the middle of the track to maintain the spirit of the party.

 

At midnight, when adults had taken their children to sleep as were several drunken men. Tom began dancing exotically in the center, giving outlandish flips, big jumps turning in the air and his hat still on his head. One interesting position was when Tom was standing on his head. Tom managed to spin his body holding the position reversed. It was awesome because hat never bended. Everyone cheered in admiration and enthusiasm because it was the first time a show like that was seen in the village.

 

The music stopped and Tom stopped dancing, he settled back and the first thing he wanted was a glass of water. He sat tired on the first chair he found  but people started shouting "one more time Tom" "Tom! Tom! Tom!"

The guy just going to make the first jump but when he started the hat dropped from his head, all were silent because it was the first time he was falling. When Tom lifted his hat realized that the hat was bended due to falling and he couldn't do anymore all the jumps and extravagant movements had previously done.

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