In honor of Synapse's annual Tabula issue, I've decided to share the short story that I've submitted to NPR's "Three-Minute Fiction Round Three: Picture This", entitled: The Crossword Puzzle. The premise of this contest was to write a 600-word or less short-story inspired by the picture above.
Let me know what you guys think!
---
To the outside world, twenty-five year old Chase De Argento seems to have it all: cushy job in the biotech industry that's both intellectually stimulating and financially stable? Check. A two-bedroom townhouse overlooking La Jolla Shores? Check. Voted by 944 Magazine as one of San Diego's most eligible bachelors in 2009? Check.
So when his job required him to relocate to the Bay area, he had his trepidations. He was leaving the life that he's known and grown accustomed to. His immediate relatives, with the exception of his paternal grandparents who still live in their villa in Tuscany, are all in San Diego. He was well-established in his career, and has a good close-knit of friends that he's relied on through the years.
However, this relocation opportunity also presented itself in an auspicious time. He was still reeling from his recent failed relationships; the most recent was his twenty-two-month-fairy-tale-love-affair with Marco Esposito, an Ivy-league educated curator for the San Diego Museum of Art whom he caught canoodling with one of the ushers during a gala benefit. As far as he can remember, he's always been in a couple; before this, he has not been "in the market" for longer than a couple of months. He's going on 8 months now and counting.
Chase found a 1-bedroom apartment within walking distance to Dolores Park, which made his move to San Francisco a bit more palatable. One of the prerequisites he had was that he wanted to live as close to a tennis court as possible; he was UPenn's #3 singles player. The other thing that he looked for was the perfect coffee shop.
However, it took awhile for Chase to find his "zen" café. He tried out a few places around his neighborhood. H Café: Too bland. Maxfield's House of Caffeine. Too pretentious. Then he stumbled upon Tazza D'Amore: it was love at first sight.
Maybe it was the mouthwatering scones or the paninis. Or perhaps the home-y feeling that reminded him of his Italian grandparents. But most of all, he enjoyed the serenity and the anonymity the coffee shop provided him. Aside from the staff whom he got to know well, he enjoyed being able to sit by his lonesome and not be bothered.
Each Saturday morning, he'd sit at his favorite spot, a red table for 2 near the windowsill, with his trusty copy of New York Times in tow, sipping on his chai tea as he filled out the crossword puzzle; this had been a tradition of sorts for Chase. He would normally fill out the crossword puzzle with his boyfriend as they enjoy a sumptuous breakfast in bed.
At first, he could barely fill out half of the crossword puzzle. Maybe he depended too much on someone else to do the work for him? Week after week, he had a few clues that were the bane of his existence. One week, it was 20 across: "Bears, in Barcelona", and 58 down "Where the Ucayali flows". The next week, it was 15 across "On the briny" and 34 down "Scores for Comaneci".
Finally, on an unusually warm February, he finally completed a crossword puzzle. As he wrote in the answer to 36 across, "Me, _ _ _ _ _ _, and I", Chase got to thinking: "maybe it's time to try the Sunday's crossword puzzles?"
Maybe being alone isn't so bad after all.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment