Today's Free Write is again from two countries. Julia is in Switzerland, D-L and Rick in Southern France. Rick took the prompt photo at the green grocer's across from the Tea Room Mille et Une where they did the free write and emailed it to Julia. They wrote for ten minutes and exchanged their work.
Rick's Free Write
She was the doyen of the village. Unofficial, of course.
Most days she presided over the comings and goings of locals and tourists from her 1st floor window above the fruitier. The perfect perch to observe the length of the pedestrian boulevard – from the only traffic light in the village to the ancient plane tree where the fountain used to be – and even up a stretch of Republique as far as the church terrace.
Her assistant, a black cat, kept watch too.
Word is she was once a model (the woman, not the cat), and she still looks the part. Perfectly coiffed white hair. Lacy black sweater. Even her walking cane was stylish.
We don’t know her name, nor do we need to. It’s just pleasant to see her in the window, observing, not judging, occasionally waving to someone she knows.
After a bit she disappears.
The cat remains on watch.
It was finally a nice sunny day in Southern France.
She had been cooped up it seemed like forever with the – for the season – abnormal rains.
Due to a slight unstableness in her walking she hadn’t dared venture out, especially as her favorite green grocer was in the sector where there were cobblestones.
This wasn’t a complaint as having found this small little village years ago when she had ventured out of her native Denmark in search of warmer winters after the death of her husband and the departure of her children: she had chosen to stay.
Over the years she had even learned enough French to get along, to make friends with the locals and not be dependent on ex-pats who showed up sporadically.
Again, she was glad that it was sunny: she could go out pick up the necessary fresh ingredients to make a bouillabaisse. She would also swing by the couple who sold roasted-on-the-spit chickens with potatoes drenched in the sauce.
Tonight was special: the arrival of her grandson from Australia.
D-L's Free Write
Tap, tap, tap. Miriam's cane sounded on each of the cobblestones in front of the green grocer's.
What would she buy for lunch? Squash had just come into season, but the asparagus and artichokes had disappeared.
Hélène greeted her.
Miriam loved the village, so different from Paris where she'd spent 50 years first as a top model on the cat walk and then representing a famous designer. With her wrinkles and white hair, those days were long gone.
She didn't miss the city, the pressure, the rush.
She did miss when she had been beautiful. For 78 she was attractive but for 20,30,40,50+ she looked old. The cane aged her, although it often earned her a seat in a crowded café.
Funny the stages of life from a childhood in a fishing village, her career as a model. Her marriage, divorce, raising her daughter.
She'd traveled to four continents, ate at the best restaurants in the major world cities.
New her food was simple. Hélène pointed out the new honeycomb Pierre had brought in that morning.
Another stage, all good, but she still wished for less wrinkles.
More information about the writers:
Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the top stories about the airline industry. He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.
Visit D-L.'s website https://dlnelsonwriter.com, is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504
Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends. Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/
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