A Simple Love Story

By Rei Rosenquist

On a Europe trip, every college student’s dream, Binny finds it difficult to get the full experience. Making friends and memories that last forever feels out of reach. Those moments are made for normal people.

Not someone like Binny.

So, when Maggie approaches out of nowhere and suggests they run off together, Binny’s shocked.

So shocked, in fact, that “yes” becomes easier to say.

In the tangled avenues of modern day Venice, secrets unwind. And in the quiet away from tours and chaperons, feelings bloom anew. But what will Binny make of these moments?

Can something so brief mean much?

Rei Rosenquist brings you a modern world tinted with magic that feels like it belongs in your back yard. Small magic with big implications. Small moments with big heart. Everyday people finding big truths to carry wherever life leads.

A short story in about 6000 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tangled Sky Press
• Release date: Jan 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386047667

Rei Rosenquist

Rei Rosenquist first remembers life as seen out the high window of a hotel balcony. Down below is a courtyard, swarms of brightly dressed tourists, the beach. The memory is nothing but a blue-green washed image. Warmth and sunlight. Here, they are three years old, and this is the beginning of a nomadic story-teller’s life. Over the years, they have traveled to many countries, engaged many peoples, picked up new habits, and learned new languages. But, some things never change. For them, these are stories, food service, and traveling. These three passions have bloomed from hobbies, studies, and jobs into a way of life. These days, Rei can be found in between Tokyo, Kailua, and Bellingham, Washington pouring beautiful latte art, baking off a batch of famous savory scones, and cozying up with a laptop to obsessively write mountains of dark speculative fiction. You can find Rei’s stories and blog at reirosenquist.com. You can also reach them via email at [e-mail] or connect via Facebook (Rei Rosenquist), Twitter (rylrosenquist) and Instagram (rylrosenquist).

Book preview

A Simple Love Story

A Simple Love Story

A Short Contemporary Fantasy

Rei Rosenquist

Tangled Sky Press

Contents

A Simple Love Story

Also by Rei Rosenquist

About the Author

A Simple Love Story

I was twenty-one; you were twenty-two. We were both out of our element in a strange place.

Our presence in Venice, Italy was neither coincidence nor fate. It was a summer enrichment program arranged by both our colleges under the same guise: ‘archaeological studies.’ It set up kids like us for this kind of world experience. A brief glimpse into the other. For those eager enough, it was a brief chance. A glimpse at what friendship, community, love could be. We never expected it to work. Maybe that's why it did.

I came off the plane with a teddy bear in my arms. You had on headphones and wouldn't look at anyone. We sat side-by-side in the food court and chewed on rubbery chicken nuggets because there was nowhere else to go. I set my teddy bear in my lap. You slid your headphones half off but didn't look up. I held up an odd shaped nugget and wrinkled my nose.

You leaned in, our eyes meeting. Nobody's making you eat it, were your first softly accented words. A linguistic birth in my mind.

I'll feel guilty if I waste it.

I see.

Our smiles met, equally exhausted from a day of luggage, airports, and customs.

It's better in honey mustard, you said and pointed at a little pot of sauce right beside my elbow that I'd somehow missed.

Where'd that come from? I asked. Did you bring it over?

Sure, you smiled crookedly like you knew something I didn't.

I took the offering and dipped the