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Published: 2011-01-25 18:50:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 9064; Favourites: 348; Downloads: 151
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The Troubles of Dating (and Time-Travel)I suppose she was the first girl I fell in love with because of something other than a nice pair of breasts, and therefore, the first girl I fell in love with whom I actually succeeded in asking out on a date. More than anything it was her hair, the way it was neither curly nor straight, but wavy, and in a dark and dreamy shade of red that nearly seemed black. It reached down beyond her shoulders, and I could find myself staring at the back of her head for hours during our classes, mesmerized by it. Breasts weren't half-bad either though.
And she was a nice person. At least, that was the impression I had gotten during our after-movie dinner at Alessandro's. Passionately interested 70s music, loving long walks in the wild, preferred old-school horrors to the film we'd just seen which we both agreed was tragic. All in all, we seemed to go along quite nicely. After finishing our capricosa, I led her to the car thinking this might as well have been a Hollywood style evening if what was waiting for us had been a convertible which I owned, and not my father's dented old hatchback.Β Β
Cleverly, I drove her home by the old by-pass road through the woods, which she liked. Then I lowered our speed, and we cruised calmly by the lake, which presently was displaying a festival of colours, helped by the setting sun. This she loved. Then our car broke down, which she saw as a far to eager move from me, and did not like, until I got out of the car and told her I hadn't stopped hoping for a snog, but because an inch long nail was stuck in my front left tire. She apologized coyly, then asked me if I needed any help changing it. I thought briefly and, fortunately, quietly, that I had no idea how to change a bloody tire, and until she suggested it never considered such a thing, but instead said no, and started to rummage the boot.
I found an old tire, a well-used jack, and some other tools I half-imagined I knew what to do with, and started to work. When she saw me jacking up the car, she jumped out to make it easier, and walked around a bit. Now, say what you like about my manliness, but changing a tire gives you such a boost of y-chromosomes you may spontaneously grow a beard. On your teeth.
Sadly, she wasn't studying my newfound masculinity, but gazing upwards, at the unveiling stars. As I dropped something I had suspected might unloosen the bolts, I peeped up over the bonnet to hear her say something about a pair of parallel shooting-stars. Not thinking of anything clever to reply, I shrugged, and continued working on my punctuated tire, hoping some grease would somehow find its way to my cheek and make me look rugged.
Not knowing just what the hell to do, it took quite some time to get the old tire off. Checking that my arms were thoroughly greased, I rolled it towards the back of the car, and started to work on the fitting the new one on. The sun had now set, and my arms and hands were starting to freeze a bit. This made screwing the bolts on a proper hassle, but I got it right in the end. I think. Anyway, it stayed on for long enough to make me believe I had done it, and therefore proceeded to knock on the hub-cap, and look around to make sure she saw me clapping my hands and lifting the old tire up in the back.
She wasn't there. Had it been any later in the year, I might've suspected that she had gone down to the river for a bath. Sadly, it was far too cold for something like that. With some difficulty, I popped the old tire back in its position, and slammed it shut. Where the hell was she?
Then I heard her call my name from the woods. Turning around, and hoping I looked rugged and greasy enough, I replied. She came walking barefoot towards me, her dark, wonderfully wavy hair blowing in the chill evening breeze, and a look of half-surprise, half-suspicion on her face. Then, amazingly, she managed to overlook the magnificence of my work, and went and sat down in the passenger's seat, asking me if I could turn the heater on. Surely this isn't allowed? Surely, she has to say something?
Trying not to let my disappointment show, I sat down, turned the key, and let warm, heated air fill the cramped cabin. She looked me straight in the eye, still this look of suspicion on her face. Then she asked me the time, to which I replied there was still plenty left before the time she'd said she'd be home. Her eyes narrowed. Then she started to search her pockets for her cellphone, which she flicked open, and started to franticly hit some buttons while she hid the screen from my face. Whatever she found on the phone must've been something good, because she suddenly let out a relieved laugh, and sunk back into her seat.
I asked her if everything was alright. Did she have to reach something perhaps, or was it something she had forgotten to do? She shook her head, and let out a small laugh, eyes closed. I think I might have stared at her for a while. Then I turned the key, and drove on, towards her house. She kept her eyes closed for a few minutes, before she slowly sat up properly, buckled her seat, and turned down the heater. As we neared her house, her smile grew wider and wider, and she gazed longingly at every house we drove by. As I pulled up beside her house, she even let out a small whimper, before turning towards me as I unbuckled. She put my hand in hers, and stared at me. If you are thinking this is when we kiss, then brother you interpret signals the same way as me, and sadly we are both wrong.
Instead, she started to tell me this incredible story of how this had to end tonight, and told me not to talk to her again. Her voice was solemn when she told me that though I found her hair pretty now, one day I would hate it, and that though we might seem to have the same taste in film and music, the differences would only grow larger until we disagree so much we cannot see a movie together at all. Lastly, she added chuckling a bit, as she eased her gaze at me and unbuckled her seat, her breasts would one day become unbearably saggy, and I would no longer find her even remotely beautiful. Then she turned around, opened the door, and put one foot out on the pavement. Her face was a great smile when she suddenly stopped, mid stance, and turned towards me.
The last thing she ever told me was that I did a good job on the tire, and looked quite rugged and handsome, even though I hadn't gotten any grease on my cheek.
Next week, we changed places, and I no longer sit behind the girl with the pretty hair. Instead I sit two rows behind a girl with such fiery eyes that though I only see their reflection in the window, it feels as if she stares right down to my soul. We're going on a date Friday. And, just to make sure, this time I've read the weather forecast and it should be far too cloudy for stargazing.
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Comments: 141
Tanton In reply to sophiacorteslovato [2012-09-14 07:10:39 +0000 UTC]
First thing my girlfriend said after reading it:
"what was that girl smoking whilst he was fixing the tire?!"
Seriously though. Time-Travel; not even once.
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Slayte1 In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 23:28:29 +0000 UTC]
funny story, too bad though, that girl sounded really nice
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Tanton In reply to Slayte1 [2012-09-14 07:13:01 +0000 UTC]
She did, didn't she?
Oh well, you needn't feel to bad for the main character. I have written a few pieces with him and he finds true love eventually, though it happens under much more embarrassing circumstances!
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Slayte1 In reply to Tanton [2012-09-14 20:49:53 +0000 UTC]
A happy ending is a happy ending, take it or leave it
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protoyoshi In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 22:59:49 +0000 UTC]
Very well written, loved the ending! Gave me some inspiration too!
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Tanton In reply to protoyoshi [2012-09-14 07:15:10 +0000 UTC]
Thank you for that!
Inspiration and the wanting to write is something I get from my favourite authors, so I am thrilled you got some off this
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LarkwingStudios In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 22:43:22 +0000 UTC]
This is a wonderful work of writing. It made me chuckle. Congrats on the DD. <3
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Tanton In reply to LarkwingStudios [2012-09-14 07:16:09 +0000 UTC]
Thank you!
It was fun to write, and I am glad some of that enjoyment seems to have been transferred to the text
Thank you for reading and commenting, very much appreciated!
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Bethebelle13 In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 20:40:46 +0000 UTC]
This is amazing, and a little sad. I wonder if she would have preferred not to have known.... Maybe it would help to savor the sweet before the bitter. Wonderful work!
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Tanton In reply to Bethebelle13 [2012-09-14 07:19:06 +0000 UTC]
It is a bittersweet ending, I agree. However I like to imagine she saw someone with whom she might have been a better fit on her voyage into the future, and so manages to get in contact with them upon her return to the present
Even if she doesn't, thank you for reading and commenting, very much appreciated!
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Musician-Moo In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 19:36:30 +0000 UTC]
Ha ha, what a great story. xD
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sinigangsagabi [2012-09-13 19:09:20 +0000 UTC]
the time travel concept was so subtle in this story i had to reread once again after seeing the comments.
i love it! it could've gone many ways...who knows what else she could've seen in the future and she just decided to say the most typical thing couples end up doing when their relationship comes to an end (and they realize it when it's too late).
congratulations on the DD...you earned it! this story was worth the whole thing.
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Tanton In reply to sinigangsagabi [2012-09-13 19:16:08 +0000 UTC]
Thank you!
I tried to write it so the reader understood how desperate and fumbling the "I" persona felt. Whether she really did travel in time, is, as I have discussed on some other comment, up to the reader to decide
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sinigangsagabi In reply to Tanton [2012-09-13 19:25:25 +0000 UTC]
you're welcome!
haha, well, girls tend to time travel when they think things through...and those who over think stuff have gone to the future and back to the past more than any person can imagine. lol. it's rare that they come out wisely from those ventures though. hmm. XD
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Tanton In reply to Fantasy-JG [2012-09-13 19:08:29 +0000 UTC]
Thank you!
And thanks for taking the time to read and comment, much appreciated!
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Dametere [2012-09-13 18:53:12 +0000 UTC]
I'm sorry but I did not like it, though I found your work via the DD. Normally I adhere to the idea "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all", but I think you are a writer with potential. So I'll let you know some problems I felt with the story: first and foremost, better editing would have helped a significantly. For example, there are places where you have missed a word or where the sentence seems awkward, or a situation seems too cliched to hold a reader's interest. Second, and I suppose you really couldn't have helped this but the idea isn't a new one--in fact your story reminded me of another short story about the problems of dating a time traveler. (" Six months, three days" by Charlie J. Anders. [link] ) The heroine even has reddish-brown hair.
Keep at it, though, there were points when your innate talent really shone through and I hope to see you in the DD again some day.
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Tanton In reply to Dametere [2012-09-13 19:02:52 +0000 UTC]
Critique is progress, otherwise you never know how good you could have been.
And I completely agree with your first point. I have indeed another version of this text, in my native Norwegian, where I had to edit a lot. Again, that this became a DD shocked me as much as anyone, trust me ^^
as for the second, someone else just linked me that story though I have yet to read it. I suppose it was a bit naΓ―ve to think it was a novel idea, but again, I never expected it to become this widely read.
Anyway thank you very much for your feedback, really appreciate it!
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Dametere In reply to Tanton [2012-09-13 19:35:18 +0000 UTC]
Spoken like a true artist!
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Tanton In reply to dweddle [2012-09-13 19:06:48 +0000 UTC]
Thank you very much!
Sometimes the text just writes itself. This was one of those
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LCextrordinaire [2012-09-13 18:13:57 +0000 UTC]
Lol... I loved this! Ive never been on a date, but I would love for my first one to be like this! I'm 15 btw.
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Tanton In reply to LCextrordinaire [2012-09-13 19:05:53 +0000 UTC]
Haha, thank you!
Though it will undoubtably be memorable, I think Time-Travel might not be involved
Anyway, thank you for reading, and good luck with your future dates. As I say, they are memorable experiences
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LCextrordinaire In reply to Tanton [2012-09-13 21:06:17 +0000 UTC]
So was this your most memorable of them all?
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Tanton In reply to LCextrordinaire [2012-09-14 07:25:45 +0000 UTC]
Most magical certainly.
There are, however, a few I think I will remember more fondly as I grow older than this one
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LCextrordinaire In reply to Tanton [2012-09-14 14:58:43 +0000 UTC]
You should write more stories about them!
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OhGodOfWriting [2012-09-13 17:36:05 +0000 UTC]
Fuck your writing is awesome! I want to learn to write like this. Obviously you can change a tire; your writing style is so manly! XD
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Tanton In reply to OhGodOfWriting [2012-09-13 19:04:06 +0000 UTC]
I just read that last sentence to my girlfriend. She is still laughing.
Thank you very much for reading and commenting, very much appreciated!
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OhGodOfWriting In reply to Tanton [2012-09-13 23:12:37 +0000 UTC]
Fttttt that's AWESOME. So glad I could make you guys laugh. ^^
At the end of the story is the girl with the eyes representative of your girlfriend? I was wondering about her, and that would explain it. If it's not it should be as that would be so romantic. lol
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Tanton In reply to OhGodOfWriting [2012-09-14 07:24:17 +0000 UTC]
None of these characters are representative of her, sadly.
Which turned out to be quite a bad move from my part, because she became quite jealous of both of the girls when she first read it!
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OhGodOfWriting In reply to Tanton [2012-09-14 09:59:16 +0000 UTC]
Oh man haha. Yes writing about any girls with no reference to your girlfriend is always a bad idea, I'm afraid. You should take to adding easter eggs for her in everything you write. It could be so subtle that no one but her would notice, and you may even have to tell her what it is. A certain phrase, an emotion, a physical attribute, ANYTHING.
So since the second girl is not a reference to your girlfriend, I find myself a bit puzzled. The description of her is so intense that I feel perhaps it might pull focus? With only a couple of sentences, she is far more vivid than the first girl, but there seems to be no purpose for this. Unless the second girl is another supernatural-encounter-date waiting to happen. Perhaps she can read minds (hence the burning eyes).
My only other note is that you begin the story by saying you are in love, which IS a very fun and gripping intro. However, as I read, he didn't seem remotely in love with the girl. Infatuated, yes, but still dismissive. In fact, he really only likes two things about her, her boobs and her hair. :/ The girl is literally faceless. Which would be more okay if the second girl was not so vibrantly alive.
The first girl seemed rather shallow in her description of how their "future" relationship turned out. I think if there was any love at all, she would have believed that it was worth it, even if it had turned out badly. And any guy who is going to dislike a girl because she ages is not really any better off with another (we all age) so he in fact dodges no bullet by dating another.
I guess to sum up, as you know, I really like your style as a male writer. It is entertaining, simple, direct, and poignant. However I wonder if you have ever tried to write as if you are a woman? Trying to do so will make your female characters more multi-dimensional, and your overall stories more realistic. It will also prevent women from writing you hate mail and calling you a sexist pig, etc etc ad naseam. XD
Anyway I really hope I haven't offended you. You had gotten a few critiquing comments to which I was like "wtf?" but I am leaving one too. The difference being (I hope it is apparent) that I really respect this piece and want to learn more about it, grow from it (I am trying to learn to write from a male perspective) as well as offer any feedback I can which you may find helpful or amusing. ^^
I very much appreciate that you've been dialoguing with me about this. You're down to earth, and it shows both in your writing and in your people skills. That is an invaluable trait.
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Tanton In reply to OhGodOfWriting [2012-09-14 14:27:37 +0000 UTC]
Another amazing reply.
I fully agree that the girls in this text are described superficially and makes the speaker appear tremendously shallow. Parts of this is because as a horny teenager (the mindset I was somewhat frighteningly easily plugging myself back into) at times is as terrible as person as this. However I don't think it's because we're deliberately going after the biggest boobs and ignoring anything else, but because girls seems to be so ridiculously different from us guys when we are in this period of our lives.
It was greater before, but I stil have a part in me which regards girls as mysterious and magical beings, the mindset of which I will never be capable to understand.
This is also why I have never written a text from a girls point of view, though I completely agree with you that I should and that it undoubtably will help me progress as an aspiring writer. For the moment though, I am gathering short stories for a collection, all of which are told by this character at various points in his stumbling path to manhood, and so will keep regarding you lot as weird (but in a good way).
Another point is the question to if the girl really did travel in time at all, or just had a different opinion about how successful the date was and how well they got along. It could be that she simply thinks he's a superficial loser who only loves her for her looks.
Anyway, thank you for an inspiring reply, and I shall try to expand the mental life of my female characters in the future. Whether I shall dare to make her my narrator, I am not yet sure!
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OhGodOfWriting In reply to Tanton [2012-09-18 21:21:54 +0000 UTC]
Hey sorry for the delay! I was trying to pick something for you to read, which was no easy feat. Most of my writing is insanely depressing and after I re-read my old stuff...I was like nuuuuu life sucks. Haha. SO. I've selected something (less depressing) because it is my only piece with a male character. It's actually a part of a roleplay so it's a bit of a weird format. It is not in first person, so I am not trying to write like a man, just write a believable male character, who would think and act like a man, etcetc. Still I feel like I'm wasting my chance for you to critique something but procrastinating won't make that better. SO HERE YOU GO:
[link]
As for the superficial girl argument, I see what you mean. Although, just because the narrator PERCEIVES the girl as shallow does not mean that they themselves should actually be. As in, perhaps the reader can tell they are not even if the narrator speaks of them as if they are.
Thanks man!
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Afterlife93 [2012-09-13 15:57:51 +0000 UTC]
This is really good. Glad I took the time to read this, I usually don't bother...
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Tanton In reply to Afterlife93 [2012-09-13 16:00:12 +0000 UTC]
Thank you for that!
I rarely read as much as probably should myself, so thank you very much for taking the time
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4cross7he5ky In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 14:21:28 +0000 UTC]
The part with the growing a beard on your teeth is genius.
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Ikioi In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 13:59:43 +0000 UTC]
I very rarely read a piece of literature on DA. Maybe once every six months.
I'm glad one of my bi-yearly reads was yours. Thanks for this.
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Tanton In reply to Ikioi [2012-09-13 15:57:03 +0000 UTC]
I read way less than I ought too aswell, know the feeling.
Thank YOU for taking the time to read and comment. Really appreciated
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aire73 In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 12:08:32 +0000 UTC]
Haha, that's awesome. All the little bits of humor made it fun to read (for me with such a short attention span...) but you managed to keep the drama, and that made me love it. :D
Congrats on the DD! :'D
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Tanton In reply to aire73 [2012-09-13 15:55:38 +0000 UTC]
Thank you!
Tried to make it a bit entertaining to read, so glad you enjoyed it!
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IyraEMM [2012-09-13 12:01:51 +0000 UTC]
okay. i wasn't sure whether i'd take to this but.. this was good. this was quite good indeed. i liked "Now, say what you like about my manliness, but changing a tire gives you such a boost of y-chromosomes you may spontaneously grow a beard. On your teeth.", made me lol.
the first sentence is hilarious. the whole thing is nicely paced, just the right amount of humour, not overdone at all.
and the time travel bit.
made me say "what a bitch." at the end.
well done!
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Tanton In reply to IyraEMM [2012-09-13 15:54:33 +0000 UTC]
Thank you very much!
Thought through the plot whilst indeed changing tires, so naturally took some inspiration from that!
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IyraEMM In reply to Tanton [2012-09-13 19:27:35 +0000 UTC]
you're welcome
aha, that's always the best way.
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catluvr2 In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 11:58:20 +0000 UTC]
Very nice. Congrats on the DD!
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Tanton In reply to catluvr2 [2012-09-13 15:52:00 +0000 UTC]
Thank you very much!
It was quite a special thing to discover this morning, absolutely!
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Taiyou-Shoujo-01 In reply to ??? [2012-09-13 11:33:48 +0000 UTC]
I liked the story, but what has time travel to do with anything? please explain
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