He didn’t see the kid at first. Or maybe he did and hoped that she had wandered ahead of her actual mother rolling the stroller behind them. He ducked his head under the balloon tower, saw their fingers intertwined. Could it be her little sister? A niece, perhaps? Could a woman so young and beautiful— perfectly blushed cheeks, plump, ruby lips, naturally golden hair— already be married and have a child?
He remembered something his twice-divorced mother always said when he was little. The good ones are always taken.
“Excuse me, sir. Are you gonna buy a balloon or just stare at that lady’s butt the whole time?”
He looked down at the balloon woman’s naked ring finger. And the mouthy, cynical ones wonder why they can’t keep a man.
“I’ll take the Olaf.” He shoved the dollar into her fist, snatched the balloon from the pile.
“Imagine how much fun you’ll have in summer!” He handed the little girl the balloon, winked at her mother. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
word count: 172
—Nortina
Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers is a weekly challenge where you write a story in 100-150 words (give or take 25 words) using the provided photo prompt as inspiration.
Lovely Curses 
Heh – round of applause for the snarky balloon lady! And doesn’t he sound a right catch? I hope he’s spent his dollar in vain… Fantastic writing – I could almost hear the ‘uhoh’ when he noticed the mother was ringless, too 😀
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Haha! You caught that! Looks like he might be a little hesitant to swoon her now.
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Great flash fiction 🙂 Ties in perfectly with my latest post on baggage…would love to see what you have to say : http://rinsebeforeuse.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/baggage/
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Being cynical is actually very entertaining. I enjoyed this story, and I hope it takes more than a wink and a kind gesture to win her over.
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Yes! He’s gonna need more than that to get her lovin’. Thanks for reading!
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What Priceless Joy said! Enjoyed reading it!
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Thank you!
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Cute story! That certainly is one way (and probably the best way!) to get to the little girl’s mother’s heart! I like how you tied it all together – him noticing their ring fingers being ringless. Great story!
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Thanks! Now let’s see if he’ll win the mother’s heart! 🙂
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He just got lucky but depends how well he’ll do now to impress the lovely lady. I laughed at the remark he silently made at the balloon lady lol;)
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Haha! Let’s hope the mother isn’t like her since she doesn’t have a wedding ring either!
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Hey thats an interesting thing to think about lol
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