Love Is All You NeedWEP All you need is love challenge

“That’s a stupid song by the way.”

“Why do you say that?”

“All you need is love… really? All? What about these groceries? I don’t think a pan full of love would stay your morning hunger. We needed eggs and butter for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Most important meal… Is this the last bag?”

“Yes, thanks. And have you listened to the lyrics, ‘There’s nothing’ you can do that can’t be done.’ What nonsense. Makes no sense to me.”

“I think it’s about letting go of worry. It’ll work out if you have love… All you need is love, love…

“You can stop singing now.”

Love is all you need.”

“John!”

“Okay, okay. I’m done.”

“Annoying. Like the checker at Whole Foods… so annoying!”

“Why?”

“‘Bye, now, love…’ Then, ‘Well, hello, love, how are we doing today?'”

“What’s annoying about that?”

Love, love, love…”

“She… I assume it was a she… Sounds like she was just being nice.”

“Pretentious. Hello, love! like she’s Adele or something… and before you say anything, she wasn’t British. Plain old Cajun girl like the rest of us.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re upset.”

“Annoyed. I didn’t say ‘upsetting.’ I said ‘annoying.’ Words matter.”

“Ok, annoyed, and yes, words matter. Still…”

“‘Love.’ What does it even mean anymore? Joyce gets new shoes, and Paula is ‘Oh, I love your shoes!'”

“Joyce got new shoes?”

“No, John,… listen, would you? How many times in a day do you hear it? When Pam stopped by last weekend, ‘I just love your yard.’ Here, put these cans in the pantry.”

“Sure.”

“I cut a bouquet of zinnias for her, by the way. Did you hear me?”

“I did. Pam loves our yard, and you gave her flowers… bet she loved them.”

“You can tease me if you like… here’s that dressing you like. So at the store, Liz saw my new haircut and was like, ‘I love your new do!'”

“It is nice…”

“That’s not the point! Someone… I mean, have you ever paid attention to aunt Loren? How many times does she say it?”

“Say ‘I love your new do’?”

“No! ‘I love you!'”

“I love you, too!”

“That’s not what I’m saying!”

“I know, I’m just yanking your chain.”

“Aunt Loren says it all the time.”

“Mainly when she’s leaving…”

“But, why not just ‘It was great seeing you! Bye’ instead punctuating with ‘I love you’?”

“Well, that’s okay, isn’t it?”

“No, John, it’s not okay. Words matter and now, because that word has been wrung out, cracked open, and emptied out so many times… it’s nothing. It’s lost.”

“Well, don’t you worry about me, dear. I like it, but I’m careful not to crack it open…”

“I’m glad we don’t throw it around like a greeting or an expression of interest. Loses its punch…”

“Come to think of it, about the only time I use the L word is with aunt Loren… she expects us to respond.”

“Exactly. Like a… a…, like an obligation, a demand. She’s not saying ‘I love you’ because she loves you. She’s saying ‘Bye now, and validate my importance by repeating after me…'”

“Oh, come on, dear. I don’t think she means it that way. It’s just her way…”

“Well, I don’t love her way. And that cashier was annoying. ‘Hello, love!’ I wanted to smack her.”

“Wow.”

“Not really. I just… Love… it’s… a sacrament? It should be special. It’s sacrilege to toss it around.”

“I don’t disagree with you. We’re careless with words. But I’m glad you didn’t smack the cashier. Did you get anything special from the grocery?”

“Not really… but oh! Yes. I picked up one of their fruit tarts.”

“Oh, my favorite! I lo…. I really like their fruit tarts.”

“I know. And some coconut whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate to go on top.”

“Yum… what’s the occasion? Did I miss something?”

“No, just felt inspired to bring home a treat for tonight, to brighten up the leftovers.”

“No leftovers for you tonight. I picked a couple of lemons from the tree and felt inspired.”

“Inspired?”

“I’ve already thawed the shrimp and chopped the veggies. You bought the cream, right?”

“I did. Cream, lemons… Oh, I see, you’re making…”

“Creamy lemon shrimp pasta. Your favorite.”

“Oh, yay, I was kicking myself on the way home for not picking up a rotisserie chicken to make something quick and not left-over for dinner.”

“Give me the cream and forty minutes, and we’ll have better than chicken quesadillas.”

“Aw.”

“What?”

“I lo…”

“Say it.”

“I adore you. Adore… See, that’s truer to the warm light in my heart right now than the L word, as you call it.”

“You said the word has been cracked open and emptied. But, you know what I think? Just like we restock the empty pantry, we can restock the words we use. We can refill love with meaning, with what we mean. Starting with ‘adore.’ Me too! I adore you, even the way you said ‘I wanted to smack her.’ Glad you didn’t, though.”

“I like this restock notion…”

“What it means for me if I say ‘I love you,’ and I do, I love you… what I mean is I adore you, I like your stories, even the tales of market frustrations, I enjoy being around you, and mostly, I am grateful for you, your thoughtfulness, even when you overthink. Very grateful for this beautiful fruit tart. So, can we restock it? Fill it adoration, humor, gratitude, and fruit tarts.”

“And creamy lemon shrimp.”

“Precisely. Now, all I need is cream, cream. Cream is all I need. In this bag?”

©Pennie Nichols. All Rights Reserved. 2022

Word Count: 939
FCA
Tagline: Love Restored

This is the the first WEP Challenge of 2022. This year’s challenges are all music-based. This one: All You Need Is Love.

  1. SUBMIT your name to the list below on February 16 – 18. Add your link (URL)
  2. POST your entry, put WEP in the TITLE along with the All You Need Is Love badge within your entry.
  3. STATE feedback preferences and word count at the end of your entry.
  4. READ other entries, giving feedback as requested.
  5. SHARE THE CHALLENGE on social media. Tweets are ready on the WEP blog.

PLEASE NOTE: ENTRIES CLOSE Feb. 18th @ midnight (NY Time – check WEP blog clock)
ALL GENRES WELCOME except erotica – 1,000 words maximum
FURTHER ENQUIRIES: writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com and leave a comment or email: den.covey@gmail.com or jemifraser@gmail.com