Kevin handed out an assignment as part of his class, 1000 words with the following cue- Looking at Paris in this light.
I wasn’t sure what to do with that cue, and kicked a couple of different ideas around before I came up with what you’ll read below. I know it probably wasn’t what he was expecting, but like I’ve said, my muse is STRANGE, and spends a lot of time in the bar drunk… But I took it as a challenge, and wrote exactly 1000 words!
Looking at Paris in this light, Johnnie could not believe that half the city was destroyed. It was a beautiful sunset, painting the Seine and 6th Arrondissement in mauves and pinks, shading to gold, thanks to the smoke from the burning buildings across the river. He looked to his right, seeing the remains of Notre Dame and smelled the wood along with what smelled like overdone pork. In his mind, he knew what it really was, but refused to admit it.
Grabbing Lisa’s hand he said, “Com’on, sis. We need to get back to Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Prés before it gets dark.”
She looked up at him and whined, “Johnnie, I’m hungry. Can we get some pork chops that aren’t burnt?”
He almost threw up, but replied, “Let’s go check that restaurant we passed earlier. Maybe there is something left in it.” He led her back down Rue Mazarene, and into the little Italian restaurant he’d seen.
Lisa looked around as they walked in, ignoring the bodies on the floor and the smell. How the hell can a seven-year-old ignore the bodies and the smell? He wondered, as Lisa broke away and scrambled up on the counter, picking up a loaf of bread. “I found bread,” she crowed as Johnnie moved carefully into the kitchen. It was getting dark, but there was enough light to make out the fridges, freezers, and cooking line, but he was looking for the pantry. Another door led into it, and he turned on his flashlight, quickly flashed it around, and spotted both salamis and two prosciutto hams.
He took them down, he stuffed them in his backpack, and turned off his flashlight, saving the batteries. “Lisa, come here!” She walked cautiously into the pantry. “Just to your right, there a quarter wheel of cheese, right at your eye level.”
She flicked on her flashlight and giggled. “Oh, cheese!” She slipped her backpack off, pulled the bread out, put the cheese on the bottom, and slid the bread back on top. She pulled her backpack on and grasped his hand. “We go home now?”
“Yes, we are going back to Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Prés.” Leading her back through the restaurant and out into the middle of the street, he turned toward the hotel.
“Maybe mom and dad will be there when we get back,” Lisa said sing-songed softly.
Johnnie shivered at the tone of her voice, since she said the same thing every day since they got out of the catacombs. Johnnie had accepted the fact that they were dead, even if he didn’t know where their bodies were.
He thought back to the previous Saturday, when their dad had said, “Johnnie, you’re fourteen and a boy scout. You need to learn about helping and leading people and I can sign off on your citizenship merit badge work if you take Lisa with you on the catacomb tour. She she saw them on the internet and…it fascinated her. Your mother and I are going to the Louvre, which is not the place for a seven-year-old.”
Johnnie rolled his eyes, but said, “Okay, dad.”
“And don’t get separated.”
“I won’t lose her. I’ll take the tether with me.”
His father nodded, adding, “And make sure she wears it!”
Johnnie asked, “Can mom tell her? She will listen to mom, me, not so much.”
Two hours later, a hotel car dropped Johnnie and Lisa at the entrance to the Catacombs and the driver said, “I will pick you up in three hours at the exit. It is far away from here. Look for this car, please.”
Johnnie nodded. “Yes, sir. I will.” Holding up his cell phone, he said, “I also have the hotel number on my phone.”
The driver said, “Bien,” then drove away.
Lisa pulled on the tether, “Johnnie, let’s go, the tour is about to start! I wanna see this!”
“Okay, okay, I’ve got to pay first. Just hold your horses, brat.” He led her over to the window, paid for two tours, and they joined the tour just as it started. He passed her one of the translators and hung the other one around his neck, as they descended into the Paris underground.
An hour later, Johnnie was getting bored with the constant skulls, descriptions of the various ossuary descriptions, and the lineage of certain families, and Lisa constantly tugging on the tether, when they felt a hard thump through the ground, followed by a rumble, and the lights going out.
He automatically reached out and grabbed Lisa by the arm, hissed, “Stay next to me and be quiet,” as others raised their voices. He also noticed the translator no longer worked and was glad he had a basic understanding of French. The tour guide was trying to calm everyone, and trying to call on the radio, but she wasn’t getting an answer. She finally said, “We will evacuate to the exit. That is the closest point to get to the surface. I am sorry. Please follow me.”
An hour later, they got to the steps to the exit, only to find it blocked by debris. The tour guide kept trying the radio, mumbling to herself as she walked in circles. Johnnie kept Lisa calm until she sat down and finally went to sleep. Hours later, the men pushed him up and he could finally see dim light over the top of the pile of debris that blocked the last steps, and he wiggled through it, as it got dark. Digging out his phone, he was surprised it had no signal. He started pulling debris up, he finally got a big enough hole for the men to squeeze out and Johnnie went back down to lead the women and Lisa out as they moved more debris.
Suddenly, he felt something shaking him, and he looked up in confusion. “Dad?”
“Time to wake up, we’re ready to go on the catacombs tour. You must have been having a bad dream, the way you were flopping around and moaning.”
(C) 2025 JL Curtis All Rights Reserved
