Flash Fiction: You Should Be Reading

The Heartsmith

A little red hooded girl stood at the market, calling out to the busy people.

"Would you like to buy a heart? I have quite a few beauties to offer," she announced proudly to the people passing by.

"Sir! Would you like to buy a heart?" She asked sweetly to a well dressed, young man.

"Do you also happen to repair hearts?" The man asked hopefully.

"Oh no! I only sell hearts, sir," she said quietly.

"Oh, I see," he said with a sad sigh.

"But if you go down that road, you will find the Heartsmith," she pointed down the busy cobble street.

"Heartsmith?" He mused. "Thank you young lady."

"You're welcome sir," she said with a small smile.

The man walked off and entered the building at the end of the street with a gold lettered sign that said Heartsmith. He walked in quietly to see another young man at work with red goggles.

"Um, excuse me?" He called out to the other.

"Huh? Oh a customer!" The other said and put his goggles up on his forehead. "Welcome sir, what can I do for you?"

"A young girl told me you repair hearts?" The man said to the other.

"Yup, that's what I do! I'm the Heartsmith. Pleased to meet you!" The Heartsmith said with a big friendly smile.

"Pleased to meet you too," the man said with a shy smile.

"What seems to be the problem?" The Heartsmith asked with his hands on his hips.

"Well," the man said as he held out a very broken and shattered heart.

"Oh boy, this one looks pretty damaged." The Heartsmith said as he studied it with a hand on his chin.

"So you can't repair it?" The man asked with a sad tone, looking away with pain in his expression.

"I didn't say that! It might just take awhile." The Heartsmith said reassuringly.

"That . . . might be a problem." The man said, averting his eyes once more.

"Are you planning on getting married?" The Heartsmith said teasingly while nudging the man's arm with his shoulder.

"Yes actually," the man said with a faint pink blush on his cheeks.

"Oh, congrats!" The Heartsmith said while rubbing his neck.

"However, as the wedding grows nearer I find this heart incapable of loving," the man said as he looked down at his shattered heart in his hands.

"I can see how that would be a problem," the Heartsmith said as he paused to think. "Well, I suggest you leave it here for awhile. I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best!"

"Thank you. Take good care of it, dear Heartsmith!" The man said with a smile as he gave his heart to the Heartsmith.

"Of course! I don't know when it'll be ready. Just drop by whenever it's convenient for you." The Heartsmith said with a grand smile.

"I will," the man said with another shy smile and left.

The girl was still at it in the street.

"Would you like to by a heart?" She would ask, holding her basket of hearts close to herself.

That's when she locked eyes with the man from before and waved with a shy, cute smile. He waved back as he disappeared in the crowd of people.

The next day, the man knocked on the door of the Heartsmith as he walked in, holding a present box.