I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the Friday Fiction posts last week – hopefully I’ll be able to dedicate that much time more regularly again soon, because it’s a real highlight in my week. Sadly, it won’t be this week and if you leave a comment (and I’d love it if you did), please forgive me for a short delay in reading it and replying. If you’d like to know more about my distractions recently, take a look at Monday’s post.
Today’s picture comes from Susan Wenzel and as always the other responses can be found at Madison Woods’ site. Enjoy!
Courtship
Amy watched the crabs in the shallow water. Their sideways motion made their approach indirect, an elaborate dance to close the few inches between them.
She thought how human courtship was similar. Right now, Liam was throwing sand over a pretty girl, not because he didn’t like her, but because he did. And the girl was squealing at him to leave her alone and probably hoping he wouldn’t.
She remembered how Andrew had wooed her indirectly too, when he told her his friend thought she was gorgeous, and could he buy her a drink to apologise. All those years ago.
elmowrites 
Dear Jen,
Snapshot of a family at the beach. Wistful memories and a mirror for us all reflecting the behavior of humans engaged in courtship.
Let me ask you; Does the direct approach work better?
Aloha,
Doug
Thanks for your comment, Doug! I don’t know about the indirect approach – seems to have worked pretty well for my husband! Nothing wrong with indirect, though, it’s probably more often effective, as long as it’s not so indirect she doesn’t notice 😉
A charming story, Jen! Extremely well done!
Thank you, jan. I was obviously in a lighter mood this week – not a sniff of death to be found!
Beautiful story. I love the images it invokes.
Thanks, Sam, and for posting my link to Madison’s site too. I enjoyed this piece – DarkElmo was clearly on vacation!
you are very welcome!
A lovely story. Made me wonder if Amy was still happy the indirect approach worked on her! Mine is here http://anneorchardwriter.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/friday-fictioneers-moving-on/
Yeah, I’m not quite sure how Amy feels about Andrew now. I think maybe she’s just in the “disillusioned wife” stage, rather than divorced or anything. Just missing the spark that brought them together in the first place. But it’s definitely one for reading interpretation.
oh how sweet – it almost has a sad ring to it, like Andrew is gone. Lovely job.
Ah, and there I thought I’d avoided death! Thanks for your comment, Kaitlin. I’m not sure what’s going on with Andrew, so that’s up to the reader to decide.
Oopsie! Well, it’s always more fun to leave it ambiguous anyway!
The memories and experiences of love, my partner and I still have many similar exchanges and I’m looking forward to them continuing for many more years too. Really well written and so evocative.
http://womanontheedgeofreality.com/2012/08/10/friday-fictioneers-shell-seeker/
Congratulations to you and your partner for keeping the spark alive. I think Amy’s got herself stuck in a bit of a rut with Andrew; I’ll send her to you for coaching in long-term romance!
that sounds like an excellent idea 🙂
Indirect courtship; I’ve experienced that. It’s unfortunate that I can’t get one to switch to direct when I need it though.
I love this story. Charming and sweet. 🙂
Ah, the delicate balance. Indirect isn’t really helpful if they never quite reach you, is it?!
Really perceptive analysis of the courtship process; well crafted as always. Enjoyed it.
Thanks, Sandra. It came to me all of a flash, but I decided it was pretty accurate – we so often shy away from the direct approach – I guess that’s what romance and flirting are for!
Nice use of the prompt and view of romance. I am curious about the apology.
I think the apology was just a bad pick-up line from Andrew. Not *that* bad though, after all it worked!
It’s interesting how many memory pieces this prompt has evoked. Yours is among my favorites. Sweet and sentimental, but not saccharin. Enjoyable on the surface and open to deeper levels of contemplation if one so desires.
Wow, thanks for your kind comment, keli. I’m so glad you stopped by.
very nice. did someone once use that line on you?
did it work ( smile )
haha! No, and I doubt it would have! But the cheesy lines are occasionally the best, especially in stories.
laughing — I secretly have a desire to use “If I say you have a beautiful body, will you hold it against me?” –but likely will settle for “I’ll have some turtle soup, and make it snappy”
haha, shame my restaurant doesn’t serve turtle soup, but I’m sure there must be an equivalent line for our regular dish – Lumberjack Soup!
kumberjack soup? — well I’ve no axe to grind….
but what goes into it?
Lovely.
Thanks!
How old is Liam? If he’s over 13 he might want to try a different approach. Cute story. It struck a chord with me as it seems to with many.
http://www.rochelle-wisoff.blogpsot.com/2012/08/safe.html
I’ve no idea, Rochelle, but his Mum seems to think it’s working! mind you, Mums aren’t always the best judges of their sons’ success. I’m glad you enjoyed the story, thanks for your comment.
I think a combination of direct and indirect works best, with the choice of each dependent on the situation. Alas, it’s difficult to match the approaches to the situations sometimes. 🙂 As for distractions, I’ve been on vacation and am just home, so I know whereof you speak. Sometimes real life just gets in the way, doesn’t it?? 🙂 I hope all’s well, though.
Silly old real life! Yeah, it gets in the way, but I enjoy FF too much to give it up completely. Welcome home, janet!
Thanks for your comment – I agree a mixture of direct and indirect is the key – you have to get direct eventually or you’ll miss!
Beautifully written! I’m sure a lot of people can relate to your story. I sure can! 🙂
Thank you, optimist. I’m glad it worked for you!
Nicely crafted piece, Jen. I also enjoyed the comments. It seems we can all relate, and romance never goes out of season. I think the reason people like the indirect approach is because it’s safer and lessens the sting of rejection.
Thanks for visiting & commenting on mine.
“Romance never goes out of season” – what a lovely line and so true. Thanks for your kind words, Russell. I think you’re right about the sting of rejection – or at least lessens the sting of embarrasment which can go with it.
Nicely done. I like the parallel drawn between the crabs path of travel and the courtship of the humans. My husband has always been a little too direct, if you ask me. haha. Thank you for the great story!
~Susan
Thanks for your comment, Susan. The direct approach can’t have been so bad if he’s acquired the title husband though!