We’d like to announce Ronald Guell as the 14th Flash Fiction contest winner! Ron won a free ebook cover from our writer’s shop.

Thank you all for your great entries, and we hope you had a fun time writing and submitting them to us.

Congratulations, Ron!

Please enjoy Keepin’ It Fresh below.

Keepin’ It Fresh

“I have a big dream,” belched a 40-something loud mouth, seriously slurring his speech. I glanced at my watch. From my spot at the end of the bar, I had a front row seat for what quickly became bad cabaret. Then, this guy starts preaching.

“If your dream doesn’t scare you, then it’s not big enough.”

Wow, he’s a philosopher too. The bars patrons looked annoyed. Seriously, you could actually hear their eyes rolling around in their heads. I signaled for another drink and finished my scotch. Finally, he quieted down. No sooner had he rested his head on the bar when in walked the most beautiful woman ever to grace this joint. Eyes weren’t rolling anymore, but lips were warming up their favorite pickup lines. She stepped to the bar, ordered a drink, and strung every guy’s attention along as she sexily glided to the lady’s room. All eyes were laser focused on her, like little boys burning ants with a magnifying glass. That door to the loo was about to burst into flames. I swear I could see smoke. When she emerged, you could hear a pin drop. Heads quickly bowed like they weren’t anticipating her return.

Just then, our cabaret star wheeled around on his stool and bellowed, “Hey, doll, you come here often?”

Jaws dropped. She stopped in her tracks, slipped between his knees, looked him in the eye and said softly, “apparently not often enough.”

She whispered something in his ear and he replied loudly, “I’d love to.” Arm in arm they vanished into the cold dark night. My fellow inebriates looked shocked like they were in a free falling elevator. I just laughed because this bit never gets old.

You see, I have to confess, old chum. Every barroom story, like a good joke, keeps a little mystery till the end. You see, last night’s Bogart and Bacall are my best friends. We hooked up later that night for our usual after party. We laughed over cocktails recalling another successful episode my favorite couple affectionately calls “keeping it fresh.”

You can find Ron Guell on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RonaldGuell1.