Free Write from Two Countries

 

Today's Free Write is a little different in how it was accomplished. Rick and I are in France and Julia is in Siwtzerland. 

Rick took the picture of the prompt and sent it to Julia. We wrote our 10 minutes in the cafe Mille et Une over tea and hot chocolate. I posted ours and Julia sent us hers.

D-L's Free Write

The fifth couple said "no" to the apartment.

"Merde," Rolf thought.

"We've clients," Maria called. "I need help."

He could lock up later. Downstairs people lined up to buy their gambas, trout and salmon. 

Sales of his fish were always good. Two other poissoneries had come and gone, but their owners had never gone to Port Vendre to greet the fishing ships when they returned to port. 

Rolf had cultivated fishermen Juan, Jacques, Erik, Martin and the others and had first dibs on the fresh catch.

Now if he could only rent that damned flat. AND keep the tenants.

The last tenant, a woman, had had a cold. When she was better, she complained, as everyone did, about the fish smell.

The rental price was under market value. He wondered if he threw in a piece of fish evry other day would that help?

Marie handed him the phone. "Someone about the apartment."

He put the phone to his ear hopefully.  The young woman, a single mom of two, would be around to look after dinner.

Maybe a piece of fish a day, even a lobster would do it.

Rick's Free Write

“I told you this place was a bad idea!” barked Henri. “Who in their right mind would rent an apartment over a fish store?”

“But it was all we could afford,” plaintively responded Emmanuelle.

“And it is in the heart of the village,” she quickly added.

“That smell is going to give me a heart attack. We can’t get away from it. It’s on our clothes, the furniture… even the baby’s nappies smell like fish.”

Their lease would not be up for another seven months, and if they broke the lease they would have to pay the entire amount regardless. It was hopeless.

“Well, at least the cat seems to like it here.”

“He should. He’s gotten twice as fat as when he wandered in the door.”

Claude began to cry in his crib. The cat-without-a-name joined the chorus.

“You feed him. I’m going to the beach, where the fish smell is not so bad.”

Emmanuelle used to like to eat fish, but she hadn’t touched any since about a month after they moved in.

The landlord, the fishmonger, was always nice to them. But he was obviously perplexed as to why they never bought anything from his store.

“We’re vegetarian,” Emmanuelle lied.

She sat on the couch and cried along with Claude and the cat.

 Julia's Free Write

Apartment for rent

Oh how lovely I thought – the perfect holiday flat in one of my favorite villages.

For years, if not my whole life, I have been aware of real estate. As a family we always lived in our own property and as a young couple, my husband and I only lived a couple of years in an apartment before buying our first home.

But we had never had a secondary residence. I rented for several years in the mountains, but when the owner moved, I stopped.

And here it was, small enough to probably not cost too much; like I said in one of my favorite villages. Maybe now was the time to do like many of my friends and spend the winters in the sun.

However, there is one vital element that will keep me from leaping on the occasion: it’s right over the local fishmongers and I can just imagine the battles with flies and other creepy crawlers, never mind the potential smells.

Not this time.

Julia has written and taken photos all her life and loves syncing up with friends.  Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/ 

Rick is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices. com

 

D-L has had 17 fiction and non fiction books published. Check out her website at:. www.dlnelsonwriter.com