Little Love Stories: Summer Love

To celebrate this sticky seventh month, we're bringing you seven of our favorite summer-themed Tiny Love Stories.
When Lies turn into prophecies
A very drunk man keeps talking to me about trains. The summer in Cape Town is hot, the night sticky, my hot drink. This gay bar is sure to sink, given the number of bodies rushing into it. I nod at the train-talker, plotting an escape, and you appear. Your accent is cute, your beard cuter, and you tell the guy on the train that we're here together. Suddenly we are here together. It is not a lie; it is a prophecy, and a good one at that. Ten years, three countries, five cities, four dogs and two toddlers later, we are still here, together. — Michael McClelland
ImageOur wedding celebration. My clairvoyant husband is on the right.
Music in the woods
Jenny is playing music on her MP3 player. Christmas carols in July. Opera voices fill the woods as robins flit and surround her. Jenny stops moving and looks. Robins sing. No words are said. Complete satisfaction in nature. She turns to me and places an awkward, resolute kiss on my lips. Only now in her teens can she tolerate touch. I pull my autistic daughter to my bosom and feel her love. — Grainne Armstrong
ImageJenny in Belleek Woods in Ireland.Credit...
We only ate onions
Recently I was standing over the stove caramelizing onions . The smell suddenly reminded me of that summer we'd spent locked in our dark little apartment. Hide from the heat during the day and caramelize the onions at night. Excited by the aroma, our feet glued to the linoleum, we came alive as the sun set, our bellies growling for a taste. I had forgotten that was all we ate - for weeks, caramelized onions - because that was all we could afford. My memories of that time are soft, sticky and contented. Almost buried by layers of time. — Megan Bolaños
ImageIn a Manhattan park on our honeymoon.
Saving my life and savoring it
I nervously decided to study abroad the summer after my first year at university. Four years recovered from my battle with anorexia. My body had healed but my mind was still at war. Italy charmed me like a lover I never expected to meet. Rome wooed me on the cobbled streets. Capri cares...

Fashion Jul 27, 2022 0 106 Add to Reading List

To celebrate this sticky seventh month, we're bringing you seven of our favorite summer-themed Tiny Love Stories.

When Lies turn into prophecies

A very drunk man keeps talking to me about trains. The summer in Cape Town is hot, the night sticky, my hot drink. This gay bar is sure to sink, given the number of bodies rushing into it. I nod at the train-talker, plotting an escape, and you appear. Your accent is cute, your beard cuter, and you tell the guy on the train that we're here together. Suddenly we are here together. It is not a lie; it is a prophecy, and a good one at that. Ten years, three countries, five cities, four dogs and two toddlers later, we are still here, together. — Michael McClelland

ImageOur wedding celebration. My clairvoyant husband is on the right.Music in the woods

Jenny is playing music on her MP3 player. Christmas carols in July. Opera voices fill the woods as robins flit and surround her. Jenny stops moving and looks. Robins sing. No words are said. Complete satisfaction in nature. She turns to me and places an awkward, resolute kiss on my lips. Only now in her teens can she tolerate touch. I pull my autistic daughter to my bosom and feel her love. — Grainne Armstrong

ImageJenny in Belleek Woods in Ireland.Credit... We only ate onions

Recently I was standing over the stove caramelizing onions . The smell suddenly reminded me of that summer we'd spent locked in our dark little apartment. Hide from the heat during the day and caramelize the onions at night. Excited by the aroma, our feet glued to the linoleum, we came alive as the sun set, our bellies growling for a taste. I had forgotten that was all we ate - for weeks, caramelized onions - because that was all we could afford. My memories of that time are soft, sticky and contented. Almost buried by layers of time. — Megan Bolaños

ImageIn a Manhattan park on our honeymoon.Saving my life and savoring it

I nervously decided to study abroad the summer after my first year at university. Four years recovered from my battle with anorexia. My body had healed but my mind was still at war. Italy charmed me like a lover I never expected to meet. Rome wooed me on the cobbled streets. Capri cares...