Moments on the Way

Flash Fiction

Moments, on the Way

“Are you going to wear that?” came a voice from the hallway, jolting Susan out of her thoughts.

“You scared me!” she yelled at Tina.

“I’m sorry!” she said, trying not to laugh, “You practically jumped right out of your skin! What were you thinking about?”

“This outfit, of course…”

“It’s really cute. I don’t remember ever seeing it before… don’t you like it?”

“I do like it, but the reason you never saw it before is because it belonged to my sister until she outgrew it two years ago.”

“It is really cute, what don’t you like about it?”

I like all of it, the part I don’t like is everyone at our school already saw it on Tina every time she wore it to school. Tina the smartest person in eleventh grade, the president of her class, the girl who won a prize for collecting second hand clothing to send to poor countries. Tina who will likely be our first woman president one day…

“Zowie! I didn’t know you had issues about Tina! The two of you seem to get along perfectly.”

“We do, but it’s hard to be the second at everything sometimes…”

“You could do those things too… couldn’t you?”

“I could, but then I wouldn’t have the time…”

“To write your book, right?”

“Yes. It’s selfish of me, I just love to write.”

“Listen” said Tina, “Everybody has a life. What you do with it is not a contest, it’s your life. You are a writer. Even if you never sell a book, you will always be happy writing and your happiness will spread to everyone you meet.”

“Is there any chance you’re going to grow up to be a guidance counselor?” Susan laughed.

Tina laughed too, “How did you know?”

Eventually, they both did.