It’s day 10 of the 30 Day Writing Challenge, and today’s prompt is: Anywhere in the world. 

Hmm. This prompt would have been better on a Wednesday, then I could have gone for a wander. However, it’s Saturday and once again it’s been a busy day, so I’ve decided to set myself a timer (ten minutes this time), put some music on and see what I come up with.

Okay, here goes:

‘Tell me, if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?’

‘Well, right here of course.’ I smiled, turning to look up at him. He nodded, looking into the distance. ‘What about you?’ I prompted him, my hand sliding on the warm skin of his arm wrapped around me.

‘Me? Oh, well, I’ve always fancied Italy, I guess. So, Italy.’

‘Oh.’

‘Oh what?’

His brow furrowed as he looked down at me. ‘Nothing,’ I said, shaking my head. I pushed away from him a little, sitting up, leaving the embrace of his arm. I started tidying away the picnic things, putting lids on jars, stacking the plates and cups, deliberately avoiding his gaze. F*cking Italy. Seriously?

‘What is it, babe?’ His hand landed on my hip and I moved, pointedly, away. ‘Oh, so I’m supposed to want the same things as you, all the time? What, you think this place, here, is the best place on earth to be?’

‘It was.’ I shrugged, still not looking at him, putting the rest of the things in the basket and letting the lid drop closed with a satisfying clunk. I sat back, kneeling on my heels, looking up at the pale sky. ‘Then again, if I think about it, maybe I’d rather be somewhere else too. Bali. Or Morocco. Somewhere warm, with beaches and dancing and… well. It doesn’t matter, I guess.’ I stood up, hefting the basket with one hand. ‘Shall we go?’

‘Babe, c’mon.’ He looked up at me, arms spread wide. ‘You know I want to be wherever you are.’

‘And Italy. Don’t forget Italy.’ My mouth was tight and I turned on my heel, walking to the car. Forget it. Why I even bothered with him, I wasn’t sure. I could feel the remnants of the picnic sliding around in the basket, all the carefully made sandwiches, the little baked quiches, cracked and squashed. Whatever. It didn’t matter. At that moment all I wanted was to be somewhere else.

Anywhere else on earth but here.

Well, there you go. You might think, reading that, that I’ve had a bit of a frustrating day. But it’s actually been quite nice. I don’t know where this picnicking couple came from, but I think we’ve all been there at one time or another. Maybe they’ll work things out, maybe they won’t…

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