So what's this post going to be about? Every once in awhile I get an idea or rather inspiration. It's usually from something simple, or something no one would bat an eyelash at. Like my poem titled "One-Eyed Jack". It's a three page, 20+ verse poem that I got inspired by a friend putting a broken plastic spoon over one of his eyes to be funny. And it's one of my favorites that I've written. So what happens after the initial inspiration? I begin to write. I keep going until I hit a block or feel it's finished. Sometimes the piece needs work. But then sometimes, once I put the pen down, I feel the piece does not require change. I may change things in the future, but I also may not. So for this post is a new piece I've written and has almost no editing done to it. It is one of my spontaneous pieces. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
Jason
By Josh Watkins
Jason shot her an
angry look from across the bar. The guy next to her was ordering her another
drink. Rachel acted as if she didn’t notice Jason’s glare. She retrieved from
her purse the cherry red lipstick she only used for special occasions. As she applied
it to her lips, Jason picked at the label on his beer bottle and continued to
stare her down. Frustrated, he chugged the beer and slammed the bottle on the
counter. The bartender wasn’t fazed as she had watched this charade unfold for
over a month now.
By now Jason was on
his feet and had made his way to where Rachel was perched. She turned her body
towards him and didn’t say a word. His rough complexion melted. His demeanor
changed to what one would call vulnerable.
“Fine,” Jason
grumbled. “You win.”
A sly grin spread
across her face as Jason turned and walked towards the jukebox. She watched as
he reached into the pocket of his muddied, faded blue jeans and retrieved it
with a few quarters. One by one, he placed the coins in the slot. The sound of
them rolling down was enough to make his nerves tingle. It wasn’t long before
“We Danced” began coming out of the music machine.
“Wanna dance?” the
guy next to Rachel asked while trying to hand her a freshly mixed daiquiri.
“You have been too
kind,” Rachel replied. “But our deal has been completed. I’ve got what I want.”
She slid the man a Benjamin, left her seat, and made her way towards Jason.
Jason reached his
hand towards Rachel and she gladly took it in hers. He pulled her close and
they began to sway with the music. Jason saw the look of disappointment on the
face of the man at the bar. He had noticed what Rachel had done.
“Did you really pay
Chris to put on that act?” Jason asked
She put her lips up
to his ear and spoke softly into it,
“Whether I did or
didn’t, it does not matter. I’ve got my husband back.”
She kissed his
cheek and then he dipped her low. His pursed lips gave way to a welcoming grin
that she had not seen for a while. As they danced, Rachel kept her eyes locked
on his and let everything around them become a blur. She wanted to savor this
moment and lock it into her memory forever. Jason was never truly the same
since he returned from Iraq. Between the losses of some of his buddies and an
RPG blast that took out the caravan he was traveling in, causing severe head
injuries, Jason’s reality and actual reality often became misconstrued.
Rachel’s love for him was the glue that held everything together.
“I’m sorry,” Jason
whispered as the song was coming to an end.
Rachel put her
finger upon his lips. She leaned in and kissed him.
“Let’s go home,”
she said.
As they walked out
the door, she knew this moment was fleeting. But she wasn’t going to worry
about that right now. She had her husband, her best friend, her true love. She
was happy.
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