Honeycreeper

This story passed Round 1 of the NYC Midnight 100 Word Microfiction Contest. Constraints: Genre – Drama | Action – Birdwatching | Word – swear

Even a honeymoon has its limits, they agree at the luau. With sunrise, they separate. She flits off to try surfing. He gears up for the birding trail, swearing to spy the endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper.

He won’t.

Binoculars over balcony, he swoops in on her instead: the brand-new wife, destined for predation. How the sun advertises her body hits his own with a sweaty shiver. She stands close to the surf instructor. And then a hand on the arm, steadying against a wave. And then the two—but he’s lost hold of his breath, now his binos, now the balcony…