Robert Laughlin
You’re a freshman in college and your first-ever blind date arrives at your apartment. His All-America build scares you a little, but he seems nice enough. The two of you swap a hundred words and exit for the dance; it’s much too soon to form an opinion of him.
…..He takes your hand and leads you up the front walk to his curbside car. A young woman on the sidewalk nears the intersection, and she happens to be your least favorite life form in the vast cosmos: Gladys Hockney.
…..Gladys fought to steal your boyfriends in high school and ran against you for class president. She’s truly surprised to see you, she had no idea you were attending her college, but she rises to the situation.
…..“We meet again.” (Half her vocabulary is cliché phrases.) She looks over your new dress, the one you took so long to pick out for your date. “Is that a dress, or is Ringling Brothers outfitting the cheerleaders?”
…..Two more sounds come out of Gladys. First, her trademark horse laugh, whose memory you want to erase like shrieking static on a DVD. Then, a few moments later, the lower-decibel sound of facial bones yielding to your date’s fist.
…..He takes your hand again and leads you to his car. Like a true gentleman, he is careful that you don’t trip over the inert obstruction on the sidewalk. He opens the door for you, and you form an opinion: is this one ever a keeper.
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Robert Laughlin lives in Chico, California. He has published over 100 short stories and poems, including recent sales to Underground Voices and elimae. Two of his short stories are MWA Notable Stories, and his novel, Vow of Silence, is available from Trytium. For more information please visit his author website.
