Stacey and Leah sipped their flat whites.

"Well, I'm not one of these women that expects too much, just a sense of humour and a nice fella really I suppose"

"What about height?" came the reply

"Oh God, he'd have to be taller than me when I'm in heels, so 5 foot 10 at a minimum, but preferably over 6 foot"

"And would looks matter?" her friend probed

"He wouldn't have to be an oil painting now, but a dark complexion, dark eyes and a muscular build, that kind of thing. That'd be nice"

"So George Clooney or Bradley Cooper so ya?" added her friend laughing.

"Ah stop, you know what I mean!"

"What about money, education, job, that kind of thing?" her friend asked

"Sure of course you'd want him to have a few quid in the bank. I feel like I'm on the Graham Norton show what's with all the feckin questions!?"

"I thought we'd head down to that new bar opening tonight and find a few potential suitors, are you game?"

"Does the pope wear a hat?"

Jim was walking down Francis street and bumped into Seán, an old college friend.

"Well, what's the craic me auld sequoia? Long time no see."

"Arah Jim, Christ on a bike, long time no see. Any bit of news? Are you still with yer wan Aoife?" came the reply and a fist pump followed.

"Oh God no, that ended a few months ago, she started talking about hypothetical babies, so it was time to call a halt to things, sure I'm only twenty eight, there's time enough for all of that Brady bunch shit"

"Tis true for ya, come here, will we head out for a few pints later on? There's a new bar after opening up in town."

"I heard about that. Arah go on so, I'll meet ya in there at 8"

"Right so, chat to ya later"

Stacey and Leah took up residence in a corner that commanded a view of the whole bar that evening, so that they could survey the comings and goings.

"Too short"

"Too scruffy"

"Too Preppy"

"Weirdos"

"Too pervy"

"Oh, hello......"

Jim and Seán walked in and Stacey gave Jim the look. Jim looked over his shoulder awkwardly thinking the look was for someone else, then walked into a chair and grimaced. The girls laughed kindly and Jim regained some composure and smiled away his rosy cheeks. The four got talking and drank together for the evening.

When the girls disappeared to the bathroom together, Seán nudged Jim saying:

"You'll surely get the ride tonight?"

In the little girls room, Stacey was discussing what colour the bridesmaids dresses would be.

Jim and Stacey have been married now for twelve years. Jim doesn't know what happened and Stacey is very happy with her advance planning and her fine hunk of a husband.

Five Minute Free Writes

I am back doing these Free writes again, and I must say that I am really enjoying them and can remember now why I used to do them most days in the early days when I first joined.

When I first arrived on Hive or the previous chain, I would often struggle for ideas on what to write about, and there were two writing initiatives that really helped - one was called #fiftywords where you could use only fifty words to tell a story about a prompt word and the other was #freewrite which basically sets a challenge of writing a mini story within 5 minutes. I regularly took part in both, and people like @mariannewest and @felt.buzz and loads of other brilliant people, so every now and then I see a post from @mariannewest and think to myself, go and do a freewrite. I hope to continue to pop in every now and then to say hello.

Maybe you've never heard of the freewrites yourself, and if that is the case, I'd encourage you to have a go, read about todays prompt and how to enter below and above all else mind yourself and have a great day - smile, rub a dog, help a stranger and just be a nice human.

https://hive.blog/hive-161155/@mariannewest/day-1856-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-matrimonial-ambitions

The photo used is not my own and was sourced on www.pixabay.com

https://pixabay.com/photos/bar-pub-restaurant-rustic-barrels-406884/