Short Stories Series – Frances Metzman

So, you’re older now. What’s up with body image? A few more wrinkles, body parts going south? I overheard a man tell his wife to cover up her cleavage. He didn’t like to see wrinkly-skinned breasts. Well, this doofus had a pot belly and drooping jowls.

What we need to do is develop a healthy attitude toward this aging process and body image. Our bodies all start changing beginning around our 40s and the changes just keep on coming. We may exercise – which helps, eat healthfully – also helps. And it’s very good to participate in some athletic regimen; workouts, jogging or minimal athleticism such as bocce or pickle ball. It’s not only good for your body and mind but adds socialization as well. But we can’t nor should we worry about the progression of time.

Cory stood on the balcony of her grandmother’s apartment in Miami Beach,Florida. She recalled how Ryan, her boyfriend of three years, had asked to come with along on the trip to visit her grandmother. Cory objected. When the time to leave came, he drove Cory to the airport and tense silence had rebounded between them. The pained look on Ryan’s face had forced her to look away.

She stared at the rust-crusted snow that had been plowed curbside on the streets of New York City. If Ryan had a temper tantrum it would have been easier to handle than his thick, suffocating silence. He dropped her off at the airport terminal with only a nod.

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“THE CHA-CHA BABES OF PELICAN WAY is a fast-paced romp of death, passion and dark humor. Way too damn much fun!”

–Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of Glimpse

Would you move a dead body for the sake of your best friend?

Ask cha-cha babe Celia Ewing, a sixty-five- year-old widow who has just settled into Boca Pelicano Palms, the Florida retirement community
of her dreams. When Celia’s best friend Marcy calls her and their friend Deb for help in the middle of the night, they find a naked Marcy trapped under the body of her beau, the community’s board president, Melvin. And he’s dead. The three friends secretly move Melvin back to his apartment setting off a chain of events that will threaten to tear their community apart and send them to jail. Melvin is one of a number of
residents who are dying under suspicious circumstances; and soon Celia becomes an amateur sleuth in an attempt to identify what she suspects is a serial murderer.

Meanwhile, Celia’s 32-year- old daughter, Allison, leaves her philandering husband, moves in with Celia, and begins working at Well Services, the HMO that serves the residents of Boca Pelicano Palms. Celia gains self-confidence and finds love as she tries to solve the complex crime that has also ensnared her daughter and her friends. Filled with humorous, witty observations about retirement communities, the realities of getting older, and the promise of new love, the Cha-Cha Babes of Pelican Way celebrates the deep bonds of female friendships, the desire for companionship at any age, and shows us that it’s never too late to learn how to cha-cha through life.

Category: Short Stories Series

WHAT’S UP WITH BODY IMAGE? COPYRIGHT, 2018, FRANCES METZMAN

THE EARLY BIRD SPECIAL