{"id":2037,"date":"2019-04-30T02:38:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T02:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=2037"},"modified":"2023-12-09T17:11:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T17:11:31","slug":"hi-by-lauren-k-sweeney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/hi-by-lauren-k-sweeney\/","title":{"rendered":"“Hi” by Lauren K. Sweeney"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hi<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Nine-oh-eight Glenview Road was the best part of carrying the mail. Ten blocks into my suburban trek, there she’d be, stretched out on a neon towel, sweet and slick as a glazed cruller. I took extra care with her magazines and college brochures, stacking them into a neat pile secured with a rubber band. Usually, she slept through my visits. Or ignored them. I couldn’t tell which.<\/p>\n

But once, a butterfly landed on her thigh. It breathed its wings open before she sat up and to brush away. She lifted her sunglasses and was arching her back a graceful stretch when she saw me.<\/p>\n

Eyes locked, legs locked, jaw locked.<\/p>\n

Our future dangled in the silence, the weight of a million little hopes testing the thread.<\/p>\n

With a single word, she broke it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nine-oh-eight Glenview Road was the best part of carrying the mail. Ten blocks into my suburban trek, there she’d be, stretched out on a neon towel, sweet and slick as a glazed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[425,168,386],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary","category-flash-fiction","category-literary-short-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t