Where I Am Is Not Where I'm Going To Be

by Suzanne Miller

Image credit: Kris Atomic on Unsplash

I might grow old alone, with just my cats for company. I might even enjoy it. But sometimes on a clear night with a full moon above, I long for someone special to join me on a midnight stroll. Someone who holds my hand and knows all my favorite spots. Someone who knows what I’m thinking before I do.

It’s been a decade since the marriage I thought would last forever crumbled around me. Since then, I’ve probably dated every eligible bachelor in the state, but each one has left me wanting. I might grow old alone, but I decide on one last shot to turn the tide before resigning myself to a solitary fate.

I haven’t tried Match.com in years, so I decide to sign up for just one month. I silently beseech the universe to send me someone to love. The first profile question reads “Are you interested in men, women, or both?” Hmmm. Why not go for broke. Without overthinking I click on ‘Both’.

And wouldn’t you know it. My first match is a lovely woman with a saucy smile, twinkly eyes, and a couple of irresistible little terriers. “Why not?” I say to myself and send her a brief hello.

With some trepidation I agree to meet for coffee. On the appointed day I arrive with shaky knees and more than a little hope. Her face lights up when I walk in, and I realize all this time I’ve simply been looking in the wrong places.

***

Suzanne Miller

Suzanne Miller, a recently retired attorney, is a flash fiction/essay writer living a solitary life on the peaceful Connecticut shoreline. She is spending her newfound freedom polishing up a lifetime of stories, and has published pieces in The Rumen, ManifestStation, Tangled Locks, CafeLit, Moss Piglet, WildGreens, and surely magazine. Suzanne is also a Writer Advice’s 2024 Microfiction Contest winner. You can link to her Substack account here.