WAITING FOR THEIR HUSBANDS (flash fiction)

My latest piece is once again inspired by the work of the great artist Edward Hopper is 1929's "Chop Suey."

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929

Agnes and Edna met at Chop Suey, the first upscale Asian eatery to open up shop in the greater Wall Street area, and chatted as if they they didn't have a care in the world - and they didn't.

Even though their financier husbands have been irritable of late, three Gin Rickeys were all it took to reaffirm their excitement for The Jazz Age.

Agnes went on and on about this new radio show called "Amos and Andy" and Edna just couldn't understand why that new comic strip - the one where the cockeyed sailor eats spinach - was so funny.

When Edna debated whether Henry Ford should've accepted Stalin's invitation to build an auto plant in Russia, Agnes changed the subject to riding the Grand Trunk Express through India.

As the first ruined tycoon hit the pavement, they both knew the Roaring Twenties were over and, amid chaos, quickly ran outside hoping their husbands wouldn't be late for dinner.

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If you liked this, my other two Hopper Sixes can be found here and here.

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THE USHERETTE (flash fiction)

Lately, I've been inspired by artist Edward Hopper and after writing a Six for his "Automat" painting, I figured I would try my hand at this amazing painting as well.

The pictures were changing and the cigar-chomping studio chief told Sally she was yesterday's goods and they wouldn't be needing her on-screen anymore.

In a daze, she wandered down Hollywood Boulevard to Grauman's and after crying her eyes out, manager Sully Blizter offered her an ushering gig.

"Don't thank me, kid," he said chomping some Sen-Sen. "Thank the dead grunt who ain't comin' back..."

When Japan surrendered a day or so later, it dawned on her that the only job she could get was wearing a dead man's pants.

As she waited for each flicker to end, Sally found it agonizing to listen to the echoes of those starlets - many of whom she'd known - tango with the likes of Bogie, Clift and Raft.

After eight years of listening to hundreds if not thousands of pictures, her crackerjack ear for dialogue had been perfected and as a result, Sally got hired (by the same cigar-chomper) to write on a team for some new medium called television.

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