I was always putting my foot in my mouth. It was years of gymnastics. We trained long. I brought two leotards to practice. One peeled off by my third round on rings. I was a hard ass. My teammates bounced quarters off it.
If it was tails, I picked lunch. We ate at the diner. Sometimes we got a booth. “So luxurious,” Carol said. I thought it was trash. I picked apart the vinyl to prove it, showed her my holes. She was not impressed. On the bus we were split. I went back to basics to get her attention. Did pikes on the trampoline for days. Stood on my head for a week. My hair never came down. We won gold. They took us to Tampa. The people there were gold. We tumbled in the sun. Our feet and palms blistered. We stayed in the hotel. I bunked with Carol. Pulled myself up at 3:00 AM. Straddled her like the beam. “I love you,” I said.
In September 2022 SmokeLong launched a workshop environment/community christened SmokeLong Fitness. This community workshop is happening right now on our dedicated workshop site. If you choose to join us, you will work in a small group of around 15-20 participants to give and receive feedback on flash narratives—one new writing task each week.