Yesteryear

GiaB writing prompt #2–2: time

My wife and I were walking across the parking lot. It was evening with a slight chill in the air, and dozens of others meandered in the same direction to the movie theater.

“What time is it?” I asked my wife. I deliberately left my phone in the car. It was movie night, an opportunity to relieve childhood memories of popcorn with real butter and intermissions. Back when phones were tethered to metal boxes and cost 25 cents for the first three minutes.

“It’s 7:15.”

“Wrong,” I said, smiling. “It’s 1982, and we’re going to see Tron.”

“Better not be,” was her snarky reply.

“Come on, put the phone away,” I said. “What was your favorite movie back then?”

She begrudgingly complied, and linked her arm with mine. “Let’s see…duh! E.T.”

“Good one.” I thought for a moment, recalling early eighties cinema. “Oh wow, there was a lot that year. Poltergeist, 48 Hours, The Thing.”

She nodded. “It was a good year.”

“I don’t even know if I saw Blade Runner back then,” I continued. “Seen it a lot of times since then. There were just too many movies that year.”

“Good movies,” my wife corrected.

We reached the theater. On the marquee was the title of the film we were there to see. It was the only decent one playing. We hadn’t been to the theater for months as there was nothing worth paying money for. This one barely met the bar for getting out instead of streaming something at home.

We both sighed, hoping the movie wouldn’t be too disappointing. “Those were good times,” she said, hugging my arm.

I looked at her and smiled. “These aren’t too bad either.”

Don Franke is a writer of science fiction and other things. He knows writing microfiction won’t produce a book, but it’s his favorite form of procrastination. Thanks to Genius in a Bottle for the writing prompt Time.