Toledo Steel

There's something about the sound of wet tyres swishing on the road outside, the smell of fresh brewed coffee and the feel of my fluffy white robe that is comforting. I should be curled up with a good book. Instead I've been wrestling with my short story 'Toledo Steel'.

It is based on a couple I observed in a cafeteria at LAX 7 years ago. She was blond and fiftyish, he was frail and much older, carrying a small brown suitcase. She went to order something for them and did not return for ages. The old man became anxious and stood up in his brown raincoat looking for her. I became anxious too, had to stop working on my crossword puzzle to see what happened.

She came back but I wondered to myself 'what if...?' Hence this story, now set in Spain. I thought it was pretty much complete but when I read it through, all its faults rose up to hit me between the eyes. After an hour or so, I thought it was done only to find I had not even reached the minimum word count for the competition I am entering. So I found my journal of the actual trip I took in Spain, added some colour and will put it away for the day. Later in the week I will read it through and impose on my writing buddies yet again to give it the once over. Due date is mid June.