Introduction
This collection is a collection of seventy stories, each 280 words. They were inspired by the first picture seen on my Twitter feed on a given day.
42. Their Path
"Now then, guys, smile." A faint breeze came off the Ship Canal. It was good to be near water on a day like this. The photographer danced around them. "Good, good."
Gary and Barry felt good as well. It hadn't always been like this, though. Gary twanged the waistband on his jogging pants. "Remember how we couldn't get anything to fit."
Barry nodded. He remembered uncomfortable clothing that dug into him everywhere. And the sweat. Oh the sweat. Buckets full. A day like this would have probably killed him.
The embarrassment was the worst though. When you took up too much room on the tram, when you began to stink even though you'd used deodorant or when you couldn't bend over to tie up a shoe lace that had come undone.
Then it had become frightening when you got out of breath just walking from the bedroom to the kitchen. When it hurt your lungs just to breathe. And when they told you that they couldn't do the operation on your knee because the anaesthetic would be too risky so you just had to put up with the pain.
Worst of all was not being able to do things with the kids. He couldn't stand through a football practice. He couldn't drive his daughter to ballet lessons because he couldn't fit in the car. Holidays were out of the question.
He and Gary had decided they must do something. Slimming clubs were no good. They couldn't get there. So it had to be online.
It had worked. Who'd have thought it? And now they were advertising it to others.
"Just one more," said the photographer. "Now, smile for the camera."
About the author
Gill James is published by The Red Telephone, Butterfly and Chapeltown. She edits CafeLit and writes for the online community news magazine: Talking About My Generation. She teaches Creative Writing and has an MA in Writing for Children and PhD in Creative and Critical Writing.
http://www.gilljameswriter.com
https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B001KMQRKE
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