A Moment of Youth

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the words: sunscreen, lawn mower, garden

A Moment of Youth

Sam looked up and down the street. Everything was going according to plan.

It wouldn’t be long now.

He watched as the black SUV with the tinted windows slid down past his house.

Right on schedule, Sam thought.

He had been casing the neighborhood for the better part of a week. He knew every movement; every prying eye there was to know.

Three, two, one – enter stage left, he thought looking three yards down. As if on cue, the Widow Jones appeared, lathering on sunscreen as she began her alluring parade around the yard. Past her prime by about five administrations, she was still one of the youngest women around.

The Widow Jones pretended to garden but if one looked close enough, he could tell she was just putting on a show. She was out there to be seen. Blinds at two different houses across the street abruptly rolled up as old men strained their fading eyes hoping to get a peek; wishing they were sixty again.

Looks like I’m not the only one that keeps track of the local happenings.

As for Sam, he squatted down and did a little pretending of his own. He tugged and fiddled with various parts of the lawn mower; glancing at his watch to make sure of the time.

Three, two, one – now!

In one motion, he stood up and peeled off his pants. At that same time, the Widow Jones went back inside, the blinds across the street dropped with an almost audible sigh and – the water came on in the Henderson’s yard.

Sam pulled off his shirt as he strode into his past.

Sixty seconds later, Sam was again bent over his mower; a big smile on his face and his hair still dripping wet from playing in the neighbor’s sprinklers

Word count 300