The Waiting Room

Written for “It’s Story Time” where
Jolene has given us four prompts to
work with plus this time, a wild card!
The prompts are shown below; here’s my story.

Truman had retired from superheroing three years ago …. bad knees …. and now he mostly bought lottery tickets and hoped for the best.

Today’s best was a golden retriever named Sid who had eaten an entire sock.

“He’ll be fine,” said the vet, not looking up from her chart. “Retrievers will eat anything; they’re basically stomachs with loyalty.”

Truman laughed. She looked up.

There was a pause …. the kind that rearranges the organs in your chest.

“I’m Terry …. Dr. Navarro,” she stammered.

“Truman Fellows. Former….. security consultant.” He’d stopped saying superhero after his last date when it became the only topic.

Sid wagged, oblivious and heroic in his own right.

Dr. Navarro handed over aftercare instructions. Their fingers did that thing fingers do in rom-coms, which is to say, they touched for slightly too long and both parties pretended this was about the instructions.

“Same time next week?” she asked. “For the follow-up, of course.”

“Absolutely,” said Truman, who fully intended to use the week to become a more interesting person.

He practically floated out to the parking lot. He reached for the car door; nothing. Tried it again. Tried it with both hands and a prayer.

Locked out. This might call for some superheroing.

Truman took a quick look around the parking lot. Where’s a phone booth when you need one?! That’s when he saw Terry …. Dr. Navarro …. walking toward him, keys extended, grinning like she’d been waiting for just this moment.

“Looking for these?” she offered.

“There they are! You’re my hero,” Truman said, and meant it completely.

Reaching for the keys, their fingers met.

ZAP! ⚡️ POW! 💥 WHAM! ✨

The prompts: 1. Vet; 2. Ex-superhero; 3. Lottery tickets; 4. Door won’t open. Wild card: Write a romance story.

This is “Electric Barbarella” by Duran Duran