When Happy Harry Makes You Smile
Flash Fiction | 2 Minute Read
After a bout with Shingles compounded by an upper respiratory infection I haven’t quite conquered yet, I returned to my writing community, Stop Writing Alone, last week for a quick writing prompt party simply to see if my brain still worked after all of the time “off.” For any regular readers of this substack, I apologise for the extreme silence this month, I hope my body decides to cooperate for the rest of the year!
This story is a 2 minute read.
When Happy Harry Makes You Smile
Happy Harry wasn’t a person who worked at Victory Diner, he was a blow up attention-getter positioned right in front. He was 12 feet tall, yellow nylon, and when the fan beneath him was plugged in, he waved incessantly at all the traffic passing by.
Everyone knew and loved Happy Harry, everyone except Lauren. Lauren lived in the Park Hill Projects across from the diner and she had no idea what Harry had to be so happy about. Her building hadn’t had gas for two months and the chill of AUtumn had finally started to hint at the season coming next.
The window in Lauren’s kitchen was south-facing and usually got enough sun each afternoon that she could pretend it was a warm day as she prepped another chilly tuna fish sandwich for herself. However, on the Tuesday in question, Happy Harry was out that window waving blocking all the sun.
Lauren had a clear view of patrons in the diner eating hot burgers and fries. One person was eating potato skins with goey cheese, and a third person bit into a mozzarella stick so hot they dropped it, grabbed their water, and began fanning their face while they sipped.
Lauren knew it was the landlord and the city who were to blame for her lack of warm cooked meals in her own home, but in that moment all she could feel were the shadows cast by Happy Harry. She opened her window and began throwing utensils at him hoping he would pop and never wave again.
Happy Harry didn’t pop, but Lauren did get her wish when her forks clogged up the fan enough to cause a small electrical fire, setting Harry ablaze and warming Lauren’s face even better than the sun.
For the first time ever, Lauren waved back to Harry because that was the first time he ever made her happy.
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This story was written using a prompt tool that gave us a person, a thing, and a circumstance. Here is what I had: a person waving | forks | a fire. This story was also inspired by some local news concerning public housing here in Staten Island that had been on my mind, and a diner that no longer exists here is Staten Island, but will always have a special place in my heart. The Victory Diner is the place my husband and I went on our first date!
Our Victory Diner never had a Happy Harry in front of it, but it was too cool of a space not to be included in some story of mine. I love diners, how about you?
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Great ending!!!!
I hope you're feeling tons better. Shingles plus infection? Omgosh, I'm so sorry you had to suffer that.