7th Place and Advancement in NYC Midnight 2024 500-word contest.
NYC Midnight is a global writing contest where writers are given prompts and a word count and have 48 hours to create a story.
My task was a 500-word romance that included the action of sweeping, and the item bread. Hope you like it.
Carol’s eyebrows came together and her fists clenched. “Hard!” she yelled at Ted. And at the second, obviously. But mostly at Ted. Her shot was true, but she needed the guys to sweep aggressively for the takeout.
Carol had taken to curling like, well, like someone who hadn’t been physically active since her 20s but who needed to get back Out There. She hadn’t dated since before the 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a gerbil. But the kids were grown, the dogs had gone with the husband and the gerbil wasn’t saying much. A radio story about the local curling club caught her attention and her best friend Alice was game for anything.
Unfortunately, her ex-husband Ted had heard the same radio story. They agreed that they could be adult about this. But today someone was sick and their skip had asked Ted to fill in. Carol knew Ted wasn’t much of a sportsman. Which frustrated Carol because she was a sportsman. Sportswoman? Whatever. She was vice-skip and she wanted to win. They were playing against Alice’s team and Carol was looking forward to buying her a drink. Winner buys the first round!
The rock connected, taking out the yellow and leaving them in a good position to score this end. Carol turned and smiled at her team. The smile turned questioning when she noticed the exotic gentleman at the window in the upstairs lounge. Interesting.
Mahit’s Namaste Curry House was an odd addition to the curling rink, but it worked. Where else could you watch curling while eating Indian food? Thursday was his favourite day because the Beautiful Woman came in – hotter than a pork vindaloo!
Mahit turned from watching the match to see a wild-eyed Tarun fending off another tantrum from Ananya. Tarun had been running from conflict since they were eight and he looked like he was about to take flight now. Mahit stepped between them. “Ananya, you are not supposed to be here. You are no longer my wife. You are no longer a partner in this business. Please leave.”
She spun to face him just as the two teams entered the restaurant. Mahit’s smile lit up his face as the Beautiful Woman looked at him. Leaving Ananya babbling in Hindi, he strode forward and enveloped her hand. “Welcome to Namaste Curry House. My name is Mahit.”
Carol’s smile went from shy to flirty in a heartbeat. Moving to the chair he was holding, she lightly brushed his arm with her fingertips.
Tarun brought a plate of naan, “Complements of the house,” while Mahit made some recommendations. With Ananya at the bar scowling and Tarun peering out from the kitchen, Mahit plucked up his courage and whispered to Carol, “Could I call you sometime?”
Glancing at the scene behind him, Carol whispered back: “Your ex, my ex, your best friend, my best friend. Every relationship comes with baggage.”
“Isn’t that a line from a British sitcom?”
She tilted her head and beamed. “We’re going to get along just fine.”