Daily Flash Fiction Entries

The Perfect House

Prompt: Write a story that revolves around looking for a house to buy.
Word Count: 300
Winning Entry 1/21/06

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It’s perfect. The rooms and kitchen are spacious, and there’s even a basement for me to build a perfect den for my –

“No,” she says. “Not this one.”

“Not this one?! What’s wrong with it? Look! See, honey? It’s even got a big backyard where you can throw your parties and…”

“Don’t like it,” she says firmly. “It’s too close to the road.”

I sputter in disbelief. “Too close to the road…? The last house we went to was too close to the woods! The previous one before that was too small. And the one before that…”

“We’ve still got two more houses to look at, baby. What’s the rush?”

The rush is that I want to buy a new house. I’ve gotten a better paying job and we can afford to live a little now. I brought up the idea to Annie a few weeks ago and was rather surprised to find that she was willing to go along with it. However, our house hunting has proven to be the most trying experience of my life. Nothing seems good enough to her. Of all the perfectly good homes we’ve seen, there’s always one flaw she’s got to point out. It really is nerve-wracking.

“We’ll find the right one soon,” she says and I can only give a low grumble as we drive to the next location. Suddenly, she yells for me to stop and drive up to a house we’ve just passed.

She jumps out of the car and stands before it, cheeks flushed and her eyes alight with pleasure. “Perfect,” she says breathlessly. “This is just perfect. Don’t you think?”

I can only smile and nod in understanding, for you see, it’s the very same house we’ve been living in since the day we got married.

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