CBA Record January 2019

Flash Fiction Creative Writing Contest –First Place– The Poetry Garage l By Julie E. Justicz

 Traffic snarled at Dearborn and Madison. Ten minutes before Margie could squeeze her scrappy 2002 Honda into the backlogged buses, bul- lying cabs, and ubiquitous Ubers. Driving into the city was never worth the hassle, even when she needed a car. Tonight, she had a maybe date with Larry. Maybe, because he often cancelled at the last minute. Maybe, because it might not be a date. They’d been friends and work colleagues for over 25 years at Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago (recently rebranded, expensively, stupidly, LAF). Still, she was hopeful about what the evening might bring: she’d dust busted the car seats this morning to get rid of dog hair and she was wearing her flowy blue outfit from Second Time Around.

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