I recently wrote this short story for one of the many writing contests I like to enter. It allowed me to place 10th in my group. The genre is Romantic Comedy and to be honest I was super worried that I wouldn’t be able to write something for that genre.
You see, as my husband once said, I don’t really have a “typical” sense of humor so the comedy part seemed like too big of a challenge but after some words of encouragement, I went for it.
In addition to following the Rom-Com genre, I had to include an alarm clock and a hot air balloon. Without further ado, may I present “Lucky Day” by Alicia Doyle ( aka Moi):
Lyla yanked the alarm clock from the wall. Today would be the very last day she would be startled awake.
“You’ve screamed your last, little demon box. Today you die.”
After years of working at Hunt and Astor Consulting, Lyla was one of their best specialists, and she had saved every extra cent toward opening her own firm. Today was her last day at the office and the beginning of her new life.
She took the same route she always did to work that morning, but the traffic was thicker than molasses. Her favorite coffee shop was no less packed. Lyla gaped at the line-up and glanced at her watch. She still had enough time to arrive on time at the office.
A group of men sat around the table in the corner tittering and pointing at patrons and not quietly. Lyla ignored them as she waited in the seemingly endless line. She wouldn’t wait in line for coffee anymore after today. She would miss her favorite barista but made a mental note to come at least once a week for coffee once she opened her own firm.
“Excuse me,” a warm baritone voice said behind her, “ You look familiar. What’s your name?”
Lyla turned to see one of the men from the corner table standing behind her, a nervous grin on his face. She glanced to the table where the others sat, eyes glued on their friend.
“You don’t know me,” Lyla said turning around again to ignore them.
“Please,” he said, “ just tell me your name.”
“Lyla,” she replied flatly.
The man took a deep breath and spoke in a loud voice.
“Lyla, Lyla, What can I buy ya? You have such a beautiful face. I have lots of cash, so I just had to ask, I will buy anything in this place,” his face reddened slightly, and she could feel the heat start to creep into her own cheeks.
“I’m good thanks,” She said dismissively, “You can go back and laugh with your friends now.”
He ran his fingers through his auburn hair, “I’m really sorry. I lost a bet and this is the third coffee shop I’ve been to this morning,” gesturing to his friends now keeling over with laughter, “ They pick the person and I have to make up a stupid poem and say it loud enough for them to hear it.”
“You need new friends,” Lyla grinned at him.
The man shrugged and smiled sheepishly, “My name is Todd and for what it’s worth, you do look very nice today.”
She shook his outstretched hand, “ Thanks, Todd. I hope your day gets better.”
She watched him walk back to his friends before turning to grab her coffee.
“Why is it so busy in here today?” Lyla asked.
“The Hot Air Balloon Festival is today,” the barista replied.
Lyla glanced at her watch to check the date.
She was late.
Fortunately, her last day was otherwise uneventful, and her trip to the coffee shop gave her the perfect idea for the alarm clock.
As she was packing up her last few belongings from her desk, Tracey, the secretary leaned over and picked up the alarm clock from her desk.
“Why do you have this here?” She asked.
“I am going to throw it out of a hot air balloon,” Lyla replied.
“Wow. Okay,” Tracey laughed, “Overkill don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” Lyla admitted, “ But I had a weird morning and I’ve always wanted to fly in a hot air balloon so… two birds, one stone.”
Lyla’s office was three blocks from the park, so she decided to walk there to avoid traffic. She chose the large orange and blue hot air balloon. Ten dollars for a 30-minute ride was worth every moment.
She could see for miles and the sky was the brightest blue she’d ever seen. The older gentleman working the flame had a kind face, so she worked up the courage to make her request.
“I know this is probably a weird thing to ask…”
He smiled, “ I’ve had many strange requests up here. I’m sure I’ve heard it before.”
She chuckled and pulled the alarm clock from her bag, “ Can I throw this? I just worked my last day for someone else. I wanted to do something symbolic.”
“Nope never heard that one before,” The old man stroked the scruff on his chin, “ but it sounds like today is your lucky day. Give ‘er a toss.”
His mischievous grin made her squeal with delight, and she heaved the alarm clock over the basket’s edge, leaning out a little to watch it fall. The rest of the ride passed too quickly. She would have stayed up there for hours if she could. She felt so free. It was the perfect start to her new life.
Once on the ground, she thanked the kind old man and hopped out of the basket.
To her surprise, Todd from the coffee shop stood waiting beside the queue with a broken alarm clock in his hand and anger written all over his face.
“Lyla?” He said, the anger vanishing immediately, “Did you just get out of that balloon?”
“Yes…” She drawled.
“Did you throw this alarm clock?”
She scrunched up her face and said quietly, “Yes?”
Todd burst out laughing and she looked around for his friends.
“This thing almost killed me! I was walking and it smashed down not two feet in front of me.”
Lyla blushed, “I am so sorry. Today was my last day at work. I just wanted to do something crazy to symbolize my new start.”
“Well, mission accomplished I’d say.”
“Sorry. “ She said again.
“Let me take you to dinner,” he said, “ Since I embarrassed you… and you almost killed me with an alarm clock. Why end the crazy yet?”
Lyla felt butterflies and she smiled at him, “Sure, I’d love to.”
After all, today was her lucky day.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my first (and probably only) attempt at Rom-Com😉
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