Closer to Perfect: a Novella of a Lost Love

Closer to perfect is a poignant novella of both love and bereavement. Trying to recover from a loss of love, the narrator takes on a precise routine to the most minor detail. Weeks deep in this routine, he finds himself sitting at a café and notices someone not part of his monotonous flow of life, a beautiful woman. A successful writer, he builds a narrative around their potential meeting. First, he weaves a "happily-ever-after" fiction, quickly followed by a second creation that depicts the quintessential of a "love-gone-wrong." In creating these two tales, he realizes he has two choices; he can take a chance and meet her, or he can be content with imagining how perfect she might be. She could be as perfect as the first tale of love, or she could be as dreadful as the second tale of disappointment; but either way, the choice is his.