Love Is All You Need
“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.
- SUBMIT your name to the list below on February 16 – 18. Add your link (URL)
- POST your entry, put WEP in the TITLE along with the All You Need Is Love badge within your entry.
- STATE feedback preferences and word count at the end of your entry.
- READ other entries, giving feedback as requested.
- 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
Great dialogue! Could have been a conversation I’ve had. Well done!
Words do matter. And that shrimp sounds delicious.
Hope you’re having a great day! My latest blog post has my theme for the April #AtoZChallenge (I’m writing speculative fiction and looking for prompts).
At Operation Awesome we have the #PassOrPages query contest going on (friends or enemies to lovers Romance).
Looks like I’ll be very busy the next few weeks!
March quote: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain
Some people do argue that the word love is overused. I know a guy like that, only tells his wife he loves her maybe five times a year. Doesn’t want to “cheapen” it, he says.
I say that’s bunk. But I didn’t marry him.
Great piece of writing and I agree, ‘love’ is used mainly out of the proper context these days.
Thanks, Sally
Love the kitchen banter and your take on the topic. Words matter!😊
I really enjoyed the playful conversation between this couple. It’s the kind of banter that only comes when you know a person really well and you punctuated it ith questions about the groceries which made it feel realistic and natural. You make a good point that we overuse the Lword. It losies some of its value if we say it when we don’t really mean it. It’s a good reminder to be mindful of the words we use.
I loved this interaction between the couple. It reminds me of the once-in-a-while discussion I have with my husband, especially in the kitchen, about love and other things. 🙂 Thank you for this brilliant idea..I would like to try using just dialogues for the next prompt.
Thanks. Dialogue can be fun for delivering a story.
The dialogue here is so fun to read! Words can certainly be overused. I like the idea of restocking them with meaning. All the talk of food made me hungry, but it’s almost time for dinner while I write this, so I guess that’s okay.
Thanks!
Spot on dialogue! Enjoyed reading very much. Some words are overused and do need restocking. Creative and fun take on the prompt.
Thanks.
Good point about the word “love” being over-used and rendered shallow. I enjoyed the back and forth banter, as well as the idea of re-stocking the word bank. Looking up a recipe for creamy lemon shrimp right now! 😀
Creamy lemon shrimp is pretty dreamy. LOVEly, even.
Hi Pennie – great take on the prompt … and I love the idea of restocking our word-bank … fun and the sort of banter going on in and around the kitchen – cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary.
Fun banter – and the expressions of love throughout via their actions was great! Love it 🙂
Thanks. I’m probably good at bantering in RL so this was close to home for me.
Hi,
You made me think about the many times that I say I love you to someone whom I really love. I like trying to find other words to express why I love you or how much I love you.
Your dialogue was spot on and I engaged myself in the conversation.
I don’t know if this is your first entry into the WEP but welcome! Nice having you here.
Shalom aleichem
Thanks. This is my second entry, but it’s been a while.
What a fun, loving interaction between the couple as they discuss Love is all you need. This was a fun read.
Thanks.
I certainly enjoyed your piece.
The starting part was especially relatable (Have you heard ‘Love will Keep Us Alive’ by the Eagles?)
Thanks, and yes!
I enjoyed your creative interpretation of the prompt. Light and playful… and very refreshing.
Thank you for sharing.
You did this well and I love how you ended it. Very creative.
Thanks.
Love (oops, did I say that?) that you didn’t take this post in a sappy direction.
Thanks… I save the sappy for private. 😉
Love is still there, in our mundane, everyday routine. But I do ‘love’ their restocking idea. It has the right ring to it. Made me smile.
Words depend on us.