# Guises (not fantasy)



## Lady_of_Gondor (Dec 14, 2005)

Here's a short story I wrote a while back about a chance encounter and the delusions that come with new relationships. What do you think? Suggestions for improvement? It's written from the point of view of the guy - not me.

She was beautiful that night, in all her congeniality and laughter. For a moment in time, I think I really felt something. I don’t know what it was about her, but I think it was the carefree persona that she let me believe was truly hers. I guess we all have guises. Hers was absolutely enchanting.
I don’t know what I was looking for. I knew that I didn’t have the energy to devote to high maintenance relationships. But this seemed so different. She seemed so different. Perhaps I was just looking for something more than the tedium of my life, the reading, the work. So, I flirted. It was safe. We were within the boundaries of a foreign city, and she flirted in the way girls do when they’ve got nothing to lose – when they’re on vacation in Quebec. I wondered if her touch and words and girlish laughter really meant anything. The way she folded her cardboard beer coaster and scribbled little thoughts in French inside and outside the wet ring her cider had left was so intriguing. Of course I didn’t understand any of it. I wondered if she even really understood what she wrote. But hey, at least she could order a drink and say thank you. I couldn’t even do that. All I knew was, “bonjour” and “Parlez-vous Francais?” I suppose it was strange that I knew how to ask if someone could speak French when I, myself, could not. But regardless of her skill with the French language, Michelle was intriguing. She seemed so untroubled that night as we stumbled through our ancient city laughing at chivalry, spending our money, exploring what it meant to not know each other, and understand each other in an instant. 
The cobblestones were wet and freshly washed as the late night approached and we made our way back to the hostel. Her sprightly gait of earlier faded away and we both let the group get on ahead of us. She stopped me on a hill, giggling with slight inebriation. Even in the dark of the night, I could see the heat of her cheeks. A gentle glow of pink – imperfect, perhaps a little uneven – rose from the front of her ears just under her cheekbones, showing her to be meeker than I had originally thought. She looked to the ground, and mumbled something silly about how strange it is that they wash the cobblestones in Quebec. I agreed, but with little actual interest in the subject matter of what she spoke, but rather, uncontrollable interest in the warmth of her voice. Lifting her head slightly, she met my eye and slowly glided her fingers down my forearm, which was hanging loosely by my side, and she grasped my hand with surprising force. It seemed odd to me at the moment, because so much of her was warm - hot even - that her fingers that night were cold like death. I don’t know what that could have meant, but if I had been superstitious at all then perhaps I wouldn’t have let her grab my arm. But I did. 
Maybe I am glad that I didn’t have foresight. That night, when we arrived in the hostel, we kissed each other with anticipation, and then let go. Nothing had felt right like this in a long time. And something told me I didn’t just want this to be a chance encounter in a foreign city. I wanted to try to have something with her. But could it really work? I thought so. I guess that was my guise. Everybody has one.


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## Lady_of_Gondor (Dec 14, 2005)

Sorry about the paragraphing. I copied and pasted from Microsoft Word and the forum eliminated my indentations.


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## sauronbill (Dec 26, 2005)

It´s intriguing and real. Not bad at all.......


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## HLGStrider (Feb 9, 2006)

Well written, but it could have a little bit more of a plot. You don't really see why there was a guise or what's beneath it.


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## baragund (Feb 9, 2006)

Will there be more? You created a nice vivid image of two young people meeting and perhaps starting to fall in love. But I did not get an impression of much by either character as being a false appearance or a pretense (which I assume is how you are using the word "guise").

Developing the budding romance further and then throwing in an abrupt twist in one or both characters would fulfill the intent of your title, I think.


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