Saturday, July 10, 2010

Reunion In Eden

It was refreshing to once again be on the heavily forested slopes of this ancient volcano. A week earlier I had been grading papers in the comfort of my office at the Royal Botanic Garden. This was my fourth visit to Reunion to meet with my colleague Jacques. We were collaborating on orchid pollination research, and in just these few days had made some amazing discoveries. Tonight, we were celebrating our remarkable finds with a bottle of luscious French wine and a small campfire. As we were taking the last sips from our only bottle, the skies suddenly opened up with an unexpected downpour. Startled, I jumped out of my chair, nearly tripping over it. Jacques caught me before I could fall and held me tightly. Our eyes met as he spoke simply, softly, "Claire". He took my hand and we raced for the shelter of the porch of our mountain 'Gite'. The sound of the rain on the metal roof was deafening, yet I was lost in a sumptuous kiss. Embracing, we backed into the dimly lit cabin. I heard the sharp noise of a falling glass behind me. When I turned around I was startled to meet a green eyed gaze of a large Dumeril's Boa. Was this a sign that this 'Reunion' was to be my Garden of Eden.

This exercise in creative writing is part of a weekly, prompted, creative writing meme. It is called Saturday Centus, and is made possible by Jenny Matlock. I encourage you to visit the many delectable writing responses at jennymatlock.blogspot.com.

Jenny Matlock

16 comments:

  1. Who said that a man can't write from a woman's point of view? Nicely done, and I got a kick out of the unexpected ending.

    =)

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  2. Ooops. Eden can be dangerous! Very well done Jeff. I agree with Sue on the point of view...SOME men can write from a woman's point of view.

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  3. PS - finally took a minute to check out your play list. I have to read with the music off or all I "hear" is the lyrics. You have two of my fav. green day songs in there among others...

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  4. Wow! Loved the science between the romance. Well done!

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  5. Jeff you surprised and delighted me! How was the view from the other side of the gender divide?

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  6. You did a great job writing from the "other side"! But to end it with a snake - yikes! Really clever take on the prompt. Kat

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  7. Good one Jeff...snakes and all :)

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  8. So vividly written, drew me right in and kept me there...snake sure was a surprise!

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  9. I loved this especially the Garden of Eden part. Very tempting, I'd say. Great Centus.

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  10. I have to admit that this is in part taken from real life...Reunion Island, because of such a diversity of microclimates, hosts a remarkable number of orchid species. Claire and Jacques are very real, although I cannot attest to any specific relationship. I hope they do not get mad if they ever happen across this post. Oh, and BTW...there really is a Dumeril's Boa found on Reunion...not sure if it has green eyes or not;-)

    I love bringing real world things into my fiction...Peace

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  11. uw lost in the moment that shouldnt be. I like it!

    Happy SC :)

    Tina from
    Mummy Diaries
    Gossip Avenue
    Travel Shack
    Game FreakZ

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  12. Loved this. So creative and fun. Good one!

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  13. Ok I went hook line and sinker... not realizing this was a story line. Remember I have been OOT (Out of town) for the wedding... I was really scratching my head thinking...Where is Jeff writing this from.. until I made it through and realized it was your fabulous creative writing!

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  14. I love that you wrote this from the feminine perspective, Jeff!

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  15. You grabbed me, caught me up in the romantic moment, then BAM, the snake! Very good, very good, indeed.

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  16. Jeff, you did such a great job! I loved this. First I was a little bit worried that this might be turning into something else. YOu just made me laugh. And actually, this was a great read! You are so cool.

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