Poets United has morphed into
Poets and Storytellers, thanks to
the efforts of Rosemary Nissen-Wade
and Megaly Guerrero. Today, for
Writers Pantry #3, I offer a snippet
on marriage.
Submitted to Poets and Storytellers
January 10, 2020
**************
It had always been there, the moustache, from the day she first met him in the parking lot of the apartment building where she’d just moved. So dapper, with the touch of gray at his temples and the pencil-thin, carefully trimmed moustache. She was immediately enamored. Soon they were dating, and in seven short months they were married. Life proceeded at a rapid pace, and now they were in a new home with two children.
One day she suddenly wondered just what he’d look like without his moustache. And so, she began her campaign to encourage him to shave it off. He was resistant for some time, but eventually, in the habit of all husbands seeking relief from a determined wife, one day he divested himself of that bit of hirsute magic that had attracted her in the first place.
He appeared at the breakfast table, a stranger with a naked upper lip. Oh sure, the distinguished gray was still at the temples, but something important was missing. She placed before him, as she had done every day for five years, two eggs sunny side up, toast and crisp bacon. She poured his coffee and quietly remarked, “Thank you, dear. You can grow it back now.”
A blog for the midnight epiphanies and idle thoughts of a hopeless wordaholic.
What we want, we sometimes get, only to realise that we didn't really want it at all!
ReplyDeleteTrying to change the ones we love rarely goes as we imagine it, especially if what we are trying to change is something we loved about them to begin with. Still, it's nice that they were able to come to a place where they were both okay going for the change. I wonder if he'll grow it back...
ReplyDeleteIt's so good to see you at Poets and Storytellers United, Bev. We've missed you. And thank you for the kind words.
It's good to be back, Megaly. I'm hoping to find time to be more active.
DeleteI enjoyed your flash fiction piece, Bev. My husband has a beard, of which I am very fond. I know what he looks like without it and would never dream of asking him to shave it off – he’d be far too handsome! :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful!!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking it was going to be a Samson and Delilah story but I was wrong. Instead it was a delightful tale of loving, "she asked me to."
ReplyDeleteI have had a beard for a long time, it has become a fixture with me.
Thank you for peaking in on me, Beverly. I was thinking perhaps I should have included extending my options to walking over to Primrose Hill. It has an excellent view of the entire downtown London and surrounding. Another day?
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I so enjoyed this story! My second husband, Bill, grew a beard after we'd been married some time. I loved it! When he decided to shave it off, I cried. The result? He said, 'I'll never grow another one, it's too hard on Rosemary.' Wrong reaction, I thought! – but he never did grow another.
ReplyDeleteFun. When my husband shaved his off, I felt like I was cheating on him with another man.
ReplyDeleteVery fun little story. I enjoyed the read and am glad you're back.
ReplyDeleteThis is delightfully woven! So good to read you again, Beverly!
ReplyDeleteIt reads as if non-fiction... ? A poem full of fun and love.
ReplyDeleteActually, it IS non-fiction...a happy memory from long ago. Sadly he passed in 1979, and I've been a widow all these years!
DeleteWhat a wonderful story. It - very - humorously expresses so many qualities of an amiable marriage … compromise … pacification … reconciliation … This is awesome writing!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Marriage is about the small quiet moments.
DeleteSometimes we don't really treasure what we have until it is gone. I've been married 49 years, and the small things between us are often the most profound.
ReplyDelete