For this week’s 15 random words I’m using:

• 1 word that was left in the comments of last week’s post:

transporter

• 14 words from https://www.randomlists.com/random-words:

trick – pat – deep – passenger – valuable – oil – trail – bubble – hideous – stay – silent – existence – huge – flippant

Above are screen prints of the words it gave me (I had to get them in 3 batches because otherwise they were covered by ads).

Below is the story scene I wrote using these words.

Austin raised an eyebrow in Clarence’s direction as the man unleashed a wide—and loud—yawn.

“Sorry,” Clarence muttered, shaking his head. “I’m not bored, just drained. Coffee, I need more coffee before we continue sightseeing.”

Austin laughed and placed a hand on Clarence’s shoulder. The poor man was usually a morning person, but they’d burned the midnight oil last night. After enjoying a late dinner and drinks at Hogarths, they’d giggled their way through a shared bubble bath back in their room at the Queens hotel. They were both determined to make the most of their short stay in Newport, Wales—one of several stops on their honeymoon tour.

“Come on.” Austin cocked his head to the left toward the Pot Café. “Let’s go ahead and get lunch. The reviews say their coffee is good.”

Clarence nodded. “Sounds great.”

Austin let his hand trail down Clarence’s arm. “Want to go take a closer look at that transporter bridge afterward?”

“Definitely. That thing looks cool. Pure engineering genius.”

“I know, right? I’ve never seen one in the states. Didn’t even know of the existence of such things.”

“It’s perfect, though, for a spot like that. The bank’s too low for a bridge high enough for ships to go under it without outrageously long ramps leading in, and the water’s too shallow at low tide for a regular ferry.”

Inside they were quick to place their orders—steak pie with mash, gravy and veg. Thankfully the coffee arrived soon afterward.

“Mm…that hits the spot.” Clarence grinned and returned his cup to the saucer.

Austin reached out to pat Clarence’s hand. “Penny for your thoughts? You’ve got a faraway look in your eyes.”

Clarence blushed. “Oh. I was thinking about the wedding. Again.”

“Your great-aunt Mabel’s hideous hat?”

Clarence covered his mouth to muffle his snort in response to Austin’s flippant comment. “Speaking of engineering marvels. I want to know the trick to keeping that thing perched on her head.”

Austin snickered. “Probably just simple hat pins, but yeah, it did seem to defy the laws of the universe.”

They fell silent when the waiter returned with their lunch plates. The servings were huge, but then so were their appetites.

Outside the window, a double-decker bus pulled to a stop and a lone passenger got off. Clarence dipped his head toward it. “We need to ride on the top level of one of those.”

“Yeah, let’s check the bus schedule. We’ll take one that goes over that transporter bridge.”

Clarence nodded, then got that dreamy preoccupied look in his eyes again. He picked up Austin’s hand and fiddled with the new wedding ring, spinning it on Austin’s finger. Clarence’s voice was deep and husky as he said, “They’re simple bands, but so much more valuable to me than their monetary worth.” He lifted his gaze to peer into Austin’s eyes. “I’m so glad I found you.”

Austin turned his hand to capture Clarence’s and gave it a squeeze. “I love you.”

“Ditto,” Clarence whispered.

Once again, because I can’t resist a good challenge, I’ll take the first 15 prompt words given to me in the comments, below, for next week’s Flash Fiction Friday post. One word per commenter, please. I’ll make up the difference using the random word generator site if I don’t get 15 here.

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