Confessional – Friday Fictioneers, February 2022.

Copyright Roger Bultot

On reflection, two glasses would have sufficed.

That warm, conspiratorial, matey feeling quickly turns to foolishness, the effortless shedding of confidences like confetti whilst you’re helplessly aware that you should stop… leave.  Now.

As the fourth glass skims your dulled palate, you strive to restore your initial euphoria, knowing from experience it’s never going to happen.

“Is my friend as drunk as me?” you wonder, hopefully.

Turns out she’s neither of those things.

As you flop out of the taxi, your husband greets you.

“We need to talk,” he says grimly.

When really you’ve done quite enough of that for today.

Haven’t we all been there? Oh… maybe just me then.. . 😦 Thanks again to Rochelle for her leadership of Friday Fictioneers. We appreciate what you do, Rochelle.

About Sandra

I used to cruise the French waterways with my husband four or five months a year, and wrote fiction and poetry. Now I live on the beautiful Dorset coast, enjoying the luxury of being able to have a cat, cultivating an extensive garden and getting involved in the community. I still write fiction, but only when the spirit moves me - which isn't as often as before. I love animals, F1 motor racing, French bread and my husband, though not necessarily in that order.
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40 Responses to Confessional – Friday Fictioneers, February 2022.

  1. neilmacdon says:

    Dense and dark. So much life in these few words, Sandra

    Like

  2. Vartika says:

    Sounds like a bad day. You said it all Sandra. Nice one

    Like

  3. Anita says:

    There has to be a line.
    When two glasses would have sufficed and she decides for more, there has to be such experience in store!
    Hope she can then understand whatever her husband says though!

    Like

  4. Dear Sandra,

    A fourth glass would’ve made me unconscious. I’m good for maybe two. 😉 I suspect what he wants to talk about isn’t anything happy. Well written and subtle.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Like

  5. trentpmcd says:

    Interesting use of second person. I like the line “she’s neither of those things.” Perhaps one glass would have been enough…

    Like

  6. Dale says:

    Oh dear. Methinks this isn’t the first time she has come home in such a state. Might have to dig into the why she is trying to escape life. Fabulously done!

    Like

  7. Iain Kelly says:

    I wonder if what the husband really means is it’s too late to talk. Great writing as always.

    Like

  8. elmowrites says:

    I enjoyed “she’s neither of those things” but I’m left wanting to know a lot more. WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!

    Like

  9. msjadeli says:

    Alcohol gives us permission to do many things we may never recover from. Good story.

    Like

  10. pennygadd51 says:

    Super use of the second person. It can so often sound hectoring, almost coercing the reader into experiencing the MC’s emotions and thoughts. But you use it so artfully, with such delicate little nudges that it’s simply persuasive, with overtones of a guilty conscience. You’ve given a master class in how to do it.
    Kudos!

    Like

    • Sandra says:

      Thanks, Penny. 🙂 I always used to shun the use of the second person. But it’s more versatile than it seems at first sight. You can use it to talk about another person, but it’s also useful when used for self-reflection. I’ve used it a lot more just recently and am more comfortable with it.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. plaridel says:

    i don’t think it’s a good time. better sleep it over first and wait for tomorrow. 🙂

    Like

  12. ahtdoucette says:

    Oh man, I’ve never been one to drink, but I can only imagine. I have a bad feeling about whatever she said.

    Like

  13. Liz Young says:

    Not just you, unfortuately. It’s as if you’re on the outside looking in, watching yourself be a complete idiot but unable to stop.

    Like

  14. i b arora says:

    the future is always uncertain. thanks for reading my post

    Like

  15. I’m left wondering if hubby is the reason she needed all those drinks.

    Like

  16. Bill says:

    Oh how I loved this story and how you did it, Sandra. All great protagonists must have their weakness and vulnerability. 🙂

    Like

  17. granonine says:

    What a lot of story packed into 100 words!

    Like

  18. Nobbinmaug says:

    I feel like the protagonist’s overindulgence may not have been accidental. Not was the information that got back to her husband. Intriguing tale.

    Like

  19. Margaret says:

    There’s a lot suggested here rather than explicitly revealed. That’s the challenge, I think, with flash fiction – how to get the balance just right so it’s not too obscure, but gets the reader imagining and filling in the details. Great success with this one – I can just picture her ‘effortless shedding of confidences like confetti’. What a wonderful image.

    Like

  20. Oy vey for a bad day, but perhaps it hits bottom … and from there it is up …

    Like

  21. Heather Musk says:

    Ooh, I love that cliff hanger at the end. What is he going to say? Is this the first time and it’s nothing related to drinking, or is it the umpteenth time and he’s finally had enough. I’d like to think that he is staging an intervention to help her through and there’s a happy ending for them both.

    Like

  22. James McEwan says:

    I like how you managed to tell a story that everyone at one time in their life has experienced.

    Like

  23. michael1148humphris says:

    All I can say, is thank heavens I no longer drink alcohol, yet your story took me right back to the days when I did. Well done Sandra

    Like

I'd love to hear your views; it reassures me I'm not talking to myself.

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