Juan Carlos tried to lose his dead wife in Barcelona. Days he spent wandering tight cobblestoned streets, staring at the blaming sun. When he stumbled across the wedding party under a canopy of streamers, the bride young and glistening like a confection, the groom stiff with nerves, he fell to his knees on uneven ground.
The priest, partaking of a glass of sangria and wishing his newest conquests well after performing for them, saw Juan Carlos whispering and stooped down.
“Help me, Father, I’ve sinned,†JuanCa begged helplessly.
The priest downed his wine and wiped his face, revealing a smirk.
The priest seems very ominous–“his conquests” and “smirking.” I think Juan picked the wrong confessor!
janet
I love the way the words float on the screen. How beautiful for a bride to be described as young glistening confection – just beautiful! Well told! However, I think he picked the wrong Priest to confess to. Nan 🙂
Sometimes we realize our mistake too late…Why kill one’s wife & then repent?
Celebration made him wanna confess! Wonder whether the Priest made him feel better!
A clever take on the prompt – the guilty husband trying to repent for his sins. I enjoyed it.
BTW – JuanCa sounds rude on this side of the pond 🙂 I remember reading about King Juan Carlos in a Spanish magazine years ago and rolling around laughing when I heard his friends called him JuanCa – so thanks for bringing back that memory (which may not make any sense to you at all!)
Haha! Thanks for the story about King Juan Carlos. JuanCa is the nickname of one of my son’s school friends. So, let’s think of this character as a traveling Hispanic American murderer looking for salvation in the wrong place…
I ain’t trusting that priest any more than I trust Juan, who I’m guessing is the one who killed his wife. You have the makings of a full-length novel here!
A priest like that is perhaps not the ideal one… a smirk and conquests.. I would guess the repentance of his sins will be tough.
Dear EM,
The priest sounds like he knows something.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Killer last line. The priest appears to lack charity. He actually seems like a right bastard. Juan Carlos will now be in his thrall, poor fellow.
This is a sad but well-written story. JuanCa, in his misery, has failed to notice that the priest is power hungry and not to be trusted.
Juan is sure heading for more trouble here-that priest is not one to be trusted-he is better off haunted by his dead wife,I think ;-)Loved the ominous ring to this fascinating take on the prompt 🙂
Great writing – absolutely superb starting sentence. Such a good short tale but I wonder about the ending. The priest suddenly took the main role.