Improbable Paradise: When Gee Met Jay

Short fiction for a Vocal challenge prompt

This month Vocal is handing out free money to the best story that can respond to the prompt: “Write a fiction story about an unlikely pair that meets on a tropical island.”

Twenty years ago, my partner and I spent a week of our honeymoon on Caye Caulker in Belize. So in honor of that memorable week, I set my story there.

This is a draft. If you do take the time to read it, please leave a comment and tell me what you liked or didn’t like. I know I am out of my element, writing romance into this prompt, so please don’t hold back.

I’ll sit on the story for a week before I submit it and I would love the feedback.

When Gee Met Jay

How one day in paradise can change everything

Georgina walks right down the middle of what passes for a main street on Caye Caulker. On one side is a strip of small mom-and-pop hotels, beachwear stores, dive shops, restaurants, and bars. On the other side, it is palm trees and white sand, followed by the magnificent turquoise ocean that Belize is known for.

At 3 pm, the sun is beating down and there is not a car in sight, although the occasional scooter or bicycle veers easily around her. It is the quiet time of mid-afternoon…