TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge #10 of 30

TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 10 of 30

Title: Marge and Sophia

Author: R. Scott Tyler

Genre: Mystery

Word count (500 max): 449

After more than 30 years, Marge would see Sophia again. Sophia had been the unknowing (and unrequited) love of Marge’s life back when they were teenagers in Portland. Sophia had spent countless summer evenings at Marge’s house, watching TV with her parents, catching fireflies in her mom’s mason jars, and camping in their backyard, sharing stories about what they wanted to do with their lives when they grew up. 

Suddenly, that Filipino kid started hanging around, and Sophia lost interest in her childhood girlfriend, falling head over heels for Gilberto Ramos. Marge still had a faraway, misty-eyed look when she reminisced about those carefree days—few responsibilities, a best friend, and parents who loved and understood her. 

It became more challenging when she went to university, but fortunately, the times were changing. The necessity for change across the country and the increased safety and acceptance of the gay and lesbian community, in particular, felt overwhelmingly important to Marge during those days. She was a tireless volunteer, helping her friends who were disowned simply for feeling different about whom they were attracted to or how they expressed their identity.

And then AIDS struck, and her world seemed to disintegrate. Her best and funniest friends were dying as quickly as she could meet them. They passed away with a cold smile on their faces. For a month, they would show off their new, slender bodies that all the gay boys desired in those days, and then the progression of the disease would continue, turning them into skin and bones. They had to be fed, changed, and washed by the same friends who had once been their lovers, sisters, moms, and dads.

Marge fought hard during those days, and even though she was past 60, she continued to fight, talk, and make friends in the communities where the disease still ran rampant. As an experienced AIDS and HIV nurse since the early 80s, Marge had been in San Francisco, New York, and South Africa, and now focused her efforts on the parts of Southeast Asia that were experiencing the fastest growth in cases. While it was no longer the death sentence it had been in the 80s, it still required many resources to manage the emotional and physical health of the new kids testing positive.

This was how she would finally see Sophia again. They had been in touch nearly weekly for almost thirty years, but now one of Sophia’s grandkids had tested HIV positive last week, and Marge received her video call shortly after finding out. She would pack her things, lock up her house, and go to Zambales to support her second family for as long as she was needed.

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