The Chestnut Boy

Summary

A boy reminisces about a girl who used to keep him waiting under a chestnut tree, reflecting on the passage of time and the end of their youthful connection.

Abstract

The narrative centers around a boy who frequents a parking lot under a high-rise to meet a girl who lives on the fifth floor. Despite her habitual lateness, it's her nonchalant attitude that affects him more deeply, contrasting with the vibrant surroundings and the promise of endless summers. As he waits on the newly laid asphalt, he is surrounded by the sensory richness of Summer's smells and the sight of fallen chestnut petals. However, under an overcast Autumn sky, the boy realizes she will not come, symbolizing an end to their relationship. The scene is watched over by a grey man, who observes the boy and the decaying tree, emblematic of the passage of time and the loss of youthful love. The boy's shadow, containing the memory of their past, lies beside a carpet of withered leaves under a dying chestnut tree. The narrative concludes with a personal note from the author, David Pahor, requesting readership support and inviting readers to follow his work on social media.

Opinions

The author, David Pahor, expresses a personal and somewhat melancholic reflection on youthful relationships and the passage of time.
There is an evident appreciation for the sensory experiences of nature, as seen in the descriptions of the asphalt's smell and the visual impact of the horse-chestnut petals.
The narrative suggests a critique of the fleeting nature of digital platform algorithms, which may not favor speculative flash fiction, indicating a preference for direct reader-writer connections.
The author's request for subscriptions and sharing of his work implies a desire for a more personal and sustainable relationship with his audience, bypassing the unreliability of platform algorithms.
The mention of the grey man and the dying chestnut tree serves as a metaphor for the fading of youth and first loves, as well as the inevitable changes that occur with the passage of time.

The Chestnut Boy

Her casual disregard still hides in the cracks, as does her youthful smile.

I perch on the pristine curb of the parking lot beneath the highrise of flats and wait for her to come down, wearing a teenager’s perfume and a tight smile.

The newly laid asphalt is dappled orange and ebony from the warm Summer’s orb above the tree’s canopy, its tar-and-earth smell teasing the nostrils, promising endlessness and bounties.

She lives on the fifth floor and has always been late. But it is the casual disregard she now shows me when she deems to meet with me that nips into the seat of my spanking new jeans, and I shift on the concrete fringe, staring sightlessly at the blanket of fallen horse-chestnut petals of salmon pink.

Under a pallid Autumn sky, the grey man watches the craggy silhouette of the tree and the boy-like shadow overhang the edge of cracked remnants of a pavement, encroaching on criss-cross blotches of tarmac ripples and potholes in front of a weary building.

The promise of rain smells of desiccated eternity and wistful revelations. She will not descend; she is elsewhere and shall be tardy no more. As an ashen cloud smothers the sun, the patchwork play of whispering light on the small, unkempt car park winks away.

The memory of her and a youth’s puppy love hides within the boy’s umbra, leaving a carpet of shrivelled, yellow-ringed leaves under a leaning chestnut waiting to die.

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