2nd Place Winner – Flash 405, April 2025: “Quitting”
Fiction
1
Dear Mary Lynn,
Saw this still shot from “Grease” and thought of you. Could be us at eighteen, right? I still have that leather jacket you loved to borrow. Breaks my heart. My mouth watered for a Hot Fudge Sundae seeing you at the Dairy Queen every day. I moped for weeks after my parents sent me to college back east. What kind of life would we have had if I stayed? I’ll be in town for our 25th reunion. Want to hook up behind the gym for old-times’ sake?
Love, Hank
2
Hi Hank,
You Hank Miller with the oily jelly roll or Hank Jenson with the bad acne in Henderson’s English class? I try to see the sunny side of life and I never look back. I sprinted out of graduation like my shoes were on fire. I buckled down, like Mama always said, eyes on the prize. Got my associate’s in one year and married Henry when he finished med school. I own three Dairy Queens now.
ML
3
Dear Mary Lynn,
I’m really happy for you. Have kids? We just had one before Donna left me for her boss. Finally, my boy has a steady job at the power plant in Corpus. Luckily, they sealed his juvie record. He sees me every Christmas. A good boy—loves his dad. You changed much? My hair is mostly sprayed on, and my chest moved south. Gravity’s a killer. I’d love to see you if you can make it.
Hopefully, Hank
4
Hi,
I’ll be there. Keep your eyes peeled for a blond driving a red Camaro, V8. All those losers will shrink like salted slugs when I walk in. Henry’s touring colleges with our oldest. Perfect SATs, class president, top-ranked in squash, and plays oboe with the regional orchestra. Harvard’s interested. How will I know you? Wear a red carnation maybe?
ML
5
Hi Mary Lynn,
I flew in, rented a Crown Victoria, and drove to the hall. Saw you walk in, looking like a million bucks. I couldn’t get out of the car, so I went to DQ. I’ve been such a fool. My Hot Fudge Sundae dripped all over my hired tux and I had to pay extra to get it cleaned. I should’ve stayed with you or come back after I graduated. Quitting you was the stupidest thing I ever did, and I’ve done plenty. I need a do-over.
Hank
Judge’s Comments:
This story about seeing your teenage crush again at the twenty-five-year high school reunion is a delicious sherbet of pride, missed beats, vanity, and regret. Mary Lynn used to work at Dairy Queen; now she owns several of them. Hank thought he could do better than Mary Lynn, but it turns out she was the best he’d ever have. Now in middle age, he’s stuck in self-doubt and crushing mediocrity, while his desire for Mary Lynn has marinated, soured, and pickled. Best enjoyed with a side of coulda-shoulda-woulda.
Suzanne C Martinez’s fiction has appeared in North American Review, Wigleaf, Vestal Review, The Citron Review, and The Broadkill Review, among others, and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize (2019, 2020), Best of the Net (2020, 2024), and Best Short Fictions (2022). She was a finalist for the 2023 Tartt First Fiction Award and the 2024 WTAW Alcove Chapbook Series Open Competition, and a semifinalist for the 2024 Hidden River Arts Eludia Award for her linked story collection. She lives in Brooklyn.
Photo by Liam Truong