Short Story

Flatlining

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Not all broken hearts are caused
by love affairs gone wrong;
many are broken before love even starts.
Written for OLWG #422. The prompts are
shown below. This is my story.

Image by Me & ChatGPT

Scully’s Tavern was busy, the sound of clinking glasses competing with the noise from the jukebox. Dressed in her perpetual goth, Gina leaned against the bar, a contemptuous look dripping from her eyes warning people to mind their own fucking business. She was everything I wasn’t – wild and untamed, the dirty side of a hurricane, while I was a watchful whisper, always playing it safe.

We met at Scully’s one disastrous night, both nursing heartbreak with a bottle of 40-year-old Glenfiddich Single Malt. Sparks were arcing that night but reality reared its ugly head like it always did, reminding me to “rein it in, buckeroo!”. I was tethered to a life of responsibilities, while Gina danced on the edge of chaos. Our stolen moments were like sweet lies, and every touch was a reminder of the world outside that would never understand.

“I need to know where I fit in” Gina admitted, her usually cocksure voice surprisingly fragile. My heart bunched up in knots; I wished I could tell her what she wanted to hear, to make honeyed promises I knew I’d never keep, but my tongue felt like a big balloon in my mouth and the words just couldn’t get out.

In that moment, Gina knew the truth and it hit her harder than any hangover. She stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair. A stranger in a leather jacket leaned over to pick it up; when he stood, their eyes met. He gave a little half smile and Gina saw nothing but trouble. She was hooked. “Let’s get outta here and turn the mad dog loose” she whispered. The stranger chuckled, grabbed her by the waist and they left the bar without a glance back.

As the patrons at Scully’s staggered out one by one and the music stopped, it felt like someone had pulled the plug on my heart. I just sat there, flatlining.

NAR©2025
#OLWG

Here are our prompts: 1) do I still figure in your life; 2) black eyeliner, combat boots and a visible aura of disdain; 3) tonight the devil can ride. We can use one prompt, two, all three or none at all. It doesn’t matter; we just need to be creative.

This is “Hang On St. Christopher” by Tom Waits

OLWG# 422- June 14th Micro-Poetry Sampling

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️ 🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al. and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

51 thoughts on “Flatlining”

  3. They say nice guys finish last, but I’m not sure the narrator is such a nice guy. Gina know to run from one kind of trouble to another that’s more fun. Or at least familiar.

    That’s one bangin’ Tom Waits song!

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    1. Let me tell you something about that Tom Waits song, Liz. Not only is it bangin’ …. it also has the line “tonight the devil can ride”, which happens to be one of the story prompts. Now, how in the good holy hell could I pass that one up?? 👿

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