"Be gentle..."

This week's writers' group yielded yet another exercise for your reading pleasure. Or maybe just for your reading, I don't want to be presumptuous. We had ten minutes to write a short story starting with the words "The first time I wore." I chose to write about a baseball cap. Batter up.

Life From Under The Brim

The first time I wore a baseball cap marked the end of a long-held vow and the beginning of a love affair. I had seen the capwearers and always thought them less serious, less mature. It seemed that caps had the exact opposite effect as glasses. Perhaps if you wore both at the same time, they would cancel each other out.

Anyway, one sunny day, I found myself reaching for a cap that had been a gift/castoff from a friend of mine. As I slid it on my head, I found it fit perfectly and immediately my outlook changed. I wasn't less serious. I wasn't less mature. I was me, but I was cooler. I was a little mysterious because the brim shaded my eyes, keeping those who could from stealing peeks into my soul.

The world looked completely different from under the brim. Looking up had become a more intentional and focused activity. The view in my direct line of sight was always framed, as if with an errant letterbox.

TIME