Short Story Wednesday: "Flipflops" from HIGH INFIDELITY, Robert Boswell

 

A couple, who are both straying for the first time, go to the beach. As the man is trying to tell a joke, the woman notices someone in distress in the ocean. The man, a strong swimmer, joins the drowning man's friend, in trying to save him. They both fail. As the couple is leaving the beach he notices his purple flipflops are gone. Then he notices a woman stumbling away, wearing them. He demands she return them and then figures out she is the  wife of the drowned man. The couple is unable to consummate their afternoon and go home. This was a successful short story for me. Well- written and had a point.