Surprised by Love

Unlike most of her friends and acquaintances, her teenage years and early twenties were not so much sweet with romance but bitter with break-ups and dour with disappointment. “I don’t know why I was surprised every time love started or ended,” she told her therapist, “I never chose the unlikely men I ended up with, things just happened.” Her first marriage was an utter disaster, she didn’t even like her husband at first, but it resulted in a much-loved child she took solace in when he disappeared over the horizon.

She was in her mid-thirties, accustomed to her own company, treading the familiar road of habit, not looking for romance or even companionship, when love took her by surprise one last time. She didn’t know how to handle his gentleness, kindness and innate generosity, but it swelled in her heart and love quickly grew.

Kim M. Russell, 16th March 2020

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My response to dVerse Poets Pub Prosery: Surprised or Not

This Monday Merril is our host for Prosery, when we write a piece of flash fiction no longer than 144 words that is inspired by and includes a line from a poem: “I don’t know why I was surprised every time love started or ended.”

This line comes from Jane Hirshfield’s poem, ‘I wanted to be surprised’.

38 thoughts on “Surprised by Love”

  1. No blood? No knives? No poison? Kim – you’re way out of step here!

    This is lovely, though. I really like the bitter with break-ups, dour with disappointment alliteration, and the happy ending. This feels like a true story.

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  8. Oh I lived this story, except for the unexpected true love that finally came. That eluded me. But I did find it with a big black wolf. Smiles.

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  18. Kim … how to respond. Well, first, LOVE the Cary Grant meme you’ve used here. Those old movies somehow made women feel there was a fairy tale love just waiting for them to discover it. Sometimes, I think women imagine the image in the men they meet….and then after a time, the man doesn’t change, she matures and understands, nope. Not right. Blessed then to find a caring and gentle man….and the one gift that first match left is one of the most precious of all and multiplies itself in our heart with every toddler hug, grade school chuckle, teen age moments of angst, wedding and then a grandchild. Blessings abound. And surely in these days of colossal upheaval, those blessings are ones we cherish even more. I loved this story even more, knowing your happiness at its end….which really isn’t an end, right?

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    1. Thanks so much, Lill, for your lovely in-depth response. I’m relying on the Internet for human contact during the daytime, and I look forward to your chatty comments. I am so lucky. David is taking great care of me; even though he is still working, he has taken over the cooking and shopping while I do the cleaning and laundry. He listens to my worries and fears, and does his best to keep me calm and safe. Love to you and your family. 😊

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