First post
Well, Jo encouraged me to finally post something, anything. I decided to post one of the short stories I wrote that I actually like the way it turned out. It is still in the final draft, so if anyone has any suggestions let me know! So, without further ado...what I have been doing this semster:
Delicate
It was absolutely the last time I was going to try to reason with her. Her excuses were getting old, repetitive, and I couldn’t hear one more. Her soft voice, eyes downcast, and the fidgeting of her hands as she mulled over a reason more justified than the last she had given me.
I felt the warm breath escape her mouth and tickle the hairs at the base of my neck. Her arms wrapped around my midsection, her clothed chest pressed against my naked back, and the softness of her hands while they caressed my stomach sparked the desire I had for her. She always let this side of her come out when I brought it up.
After all this time she still affected me so easily and doesn’t even realize it. The torturous ways she touched me, kissed me, and looked at me was the complete undoing of my strength. Just the feel of her small hand encompassed by my own was enough to make me feel safe. The way her delicate lips first pressed to mine in the early hours of the morning made me feel more needed, like with that small gesture she let me know how she couldn’t imagine waking up another morning without me by her side. And that first time she looked at me I knew she was innocent, just like a candy that had never been unwrapped.
It was Aunt Betty who had introduced us. I was fresh out of medical school, and had been on the late shift in the emergency room when she was brought in. She had fallen on a slippery patch of ice and broke her arm. A neighbor had driven her, as she hadn’t ever learned how to drive, and while I overheard the conversation with the niece over the phone that was to pick her up I couldn’t help but smile when Aunt Betty sweetly whispered "it’s no rush dear, but it will be wonderful to see you twice in one day." I could tell from that one statement that the two were very close, like a mother and daughter, and I sat with Aunt Betty while she waited for her ride.
If I told you it was love at first sight I would be lying through my teeth. She was plain, wore very little makeup, and waltzed into the ER with her hair in a ponytail and wearing overalls with a sweater underneath. I can’t believe I remember the way she looked and I hadn’t even taken an interest in her yet. I said goodnight to Aunt Betty, and rushed off as I was paged for another emergency.
It was the next evening, when things were a bit slow, and I was taking a nap in the lounge when I was paged that I had a visitor "Dr. Kaplan to the admissions desk." That was when I knew. She had come to thank me for taking such good care of Aunt Betty. And when she broke down into tears, I wrapped her in my arms as she told me of the only living relative she had left and how much they needed each other. From that moment on I spent every waking hour with them. It was Aunt Betty who had whispered to me over our softening ice cream as we waited for the Saturday night movie to begin "I can see it in your eyes, tell her, you both feel the same way." It was not even a year later that we were married and awaiting the birth of our son.
"You need to come to the realization that she will not be here much longer." Please let this be the time she doesn’t hide from the situation. She doesn’t understand how much she is missing out on by not visiting her. I sighed heavily out of frustration. It was like banging my head against a brick wall sometimes, the way she refused to acknowledge it as being reality.
I felt her lips press lightly against my shoulder blades, her hands made a slow ascent up to my chest, her fingers tentative, as if she was feeling my skin for the very first time again. She knew exactly what she was doing, if she seduced me in just the right way I would drop the subject and she would be free of the task. But I wasn’t going to back down, not this time.
My eyes tightened at the sensations she was inducing and were now coursing through my veins. I had to stay strong, so I tried to think of something uninteresting, hideous, revolting. When the lawyer gets eaten in "Jurassic Park"? No, that was too funny. The endless hours of "Spongebob" I have had to endure watching? No, as much as that show annoyed me, it was still too cute to distract me, because she loved that show as much as Jimmy did. I’ve got it! The moment the extraterrestrial bursts from the man’s stomach in "Alien"!
"Baby please?" I softened the tone of my voice, turned around giving her my best puppy eyes, and planted little delicate kisses on the corners of her mouth. "She needs you right now, more than ever, and I know how hard it is, how much you want to believe she will come sashaying through that door with her sing-song voice and smile that could light up the world, but this is happening. This is important to her."
She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against my chest. "Let’s go upstairs..."
"No! Not this time Sarah. You need to stop avoiding the subject and listen to what I am saying! Aunt Betty is dying! She has only weeks, possibly days, and you have been taking advantage of the time you have left together. You should be spending as much time by her side, listening to her stories, laughing together over jokes only the two of you find hilarious, and telling her how much she has meant to your life! Baby, I don’t want you to regret not being able to have this time with her the way I did with my mother. She needs this as much as you do."
She was silent, but I knew that I had broken through to her when her bottom lip began to tremble and the tears broke free. She began shaking and I caught her just before she was about to collapse to the floor. We sat there, for endless minutes, as I caressed her back and smoothed her hair from her face as she sat in my lap clutching on to me for strength.
After she had quieted down and let a weighted sigh release from her body, she stood up. "I’m just going to freshen up, then can you drive me there, I don’t think I..."
"I’ll go start the car, let it warm up a bit from the cold." I kissed her on the cheek, telling her with more than words how proud I was of her.
The drive to the hospital was silent, I held her hand with the opposite one I was using to steer the car, and she silently looped her fingers in mine and gave a little squeeze, thanking me for not giving up on her. I watched her walk toward the entrance with a slight sadness and apprehension in her step. I could picture the way they would sit in bed together, Sarah crying for not coming to spend time with her sooner, Aunt Betty hugging her body close while whispering words of comfort, and finally telling jokes together. Aunt Betty always told the best jokes, especially the off-color ones.
As I watched the cold snow begin to fall on the warm pavement of the parking lot and the white puffs as I exhaled, I realized that tonight there would no longer be the slight tension at home. I would not have to worry about tiptoeing around the subject and even though things would not be the same, I knew we would be okay, because we would always remember.
Love you guys!
Delicate
It was absolutely the last time I was going to try to reason with her. Her excuses were getting old, repetitive, and I couldn’t hear one more. Her soft voice, eyes downcast, and the fidgeting of her hands as she mulled over a reason more justified than the last she had given me.
I felt the warm breath escape her mouth and tickle the hairs at the base of my neck. Her arms wrapped around my midsection, her clothed chest pressed against my naked back, and the softness of her hands while they caressed my stomach sparked the desire I had for her. She always let this side of her come out when I brought it up.
After all this time she still affected me so easily and doesn’t even realize it. The torturous ways she touched me, kissed me, and looked at me was the complete undoing of my strength. Just the feel of her small hand encompassed by my own was enough to make me feel safe. The way her delicate lips first pressed to mine in the early hours of the morning made me feel more needed, like with that small gesture she let me know how she couldn’t imagine waking up another morning without me by her side. And that first time she looked at me I knew she was innocent, just like a candy that had never been unwrapped.
It was Aunt Betty who had introduced us. I was fresh out of medical school, and had been on the late shift in the emergency room when she was brought in. She had fallen on a slippery patch of ice and broke her arm. A neighbor had driven her, as she hadn’t ever learned how to drive, and while I overheard the conversation with the niece over the phone that was to pick her up I couldn’t help but smile when Aunt Betty sweetly whispered "it’s no rush dear, but it will be wonderful to see you twice in one day." I could tell from that one statement that the two were very close, like a mother and daughter, and I sat with Aunt Betty while she waited for her ride.
If I told you it was love at first sight I would be lying through my teeth. She was plain, wore very little makeup, and waltzed into the ER with her hair in a ponytail and wearing overalls with a sweater underneath. I can’t believe I remember the way she looked and I hadn’t even taken an interest in her yet. I said goodnight to Aunt Betty, and rushed off as I was paged for another emergency.
It was the next evening, when things were a bit slow, and I was taking a nap in the lounge when I was paged that I had a visitor "Dr. Kaplan to the admissions desk." That was when I knew. She had come to thank me for taking such good care of Aunt Betty. And when she broke down into tears, I wrapped her in my arms as she told me of the only living relative she had left and how much they needed each other. From that moment on I spent every waking hour with them. It was Aunt Betty who had whispered to me over our softening ice cream as we waited for the Saturday night movie to begin "I can see it in your eyes, tell her, you both feel the same way." It was not even a year later that we were married and awaiting the birth of our son.
"You need to come to the realization that she will not be here much longer." Please let this be the time she doesn’t hide from the situation. She doesn’t understand how much she is missing out on by not visiting her. I sighed heavily out of frustration. It was like banging my head against a brick wall sometimes, the way she refused to acknowledge it as being reality.
I felt her lips press lightly against my shoulder blades, her hands made a slow ascent up to my chest, her fingers tentative, as if she was feeling my skin for the very first time again. She knew exactly what she was doing, if she seduced me in just the right way I would drop the subject and she would be free of the task. But I wasn’t going to back down, not this time.
My eyes tightened at the sensations she was inducing and were now coursing through my veins. I had to stay strong, so I tried to think of something uninteresting, hideous, revolting. When the lawyer gets eaten in "Jurassic Park"? No, that was too funny. The endless hours of "Spongebob" I have had to endure watching? No, as much as that show annoyed me, it was still too cute to distract me, because she loved that show as much as Jimmy did. I’ve got it! The moment the extraterrestrial bursts from the man’s stomach in "Alien"!
"Baby please?" I softened the tone of my voice, turned around giving her my best puppy eyes, and planted little delicate kisses on the corners of her mouth. "She needs you right now, more than ever, and I know how hard it is, how much you want to believe she will come sashaying through that door with her sing-song voice and smile that could light up the world, but this is happening. This is important to her."
She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against my chest. "Let’s go upstairs..."
"No! Not this time Sarah. You need to stop avoiding the subject and listen to what I am saying! Aunt Betty is dying! She has only weeks, possibly days, and you have been taking advantage of the time you have left together. You should be spending as much time by her side, listening to her stories, laughing together over jokes only the two of you find hilarious, and telling her how much she has meant to your life! Baby, I don’t want you to regret not being able to have this time with her the way I did with my mother. She needs this as much as you do."
She was silent, but I knew that I had broken through to her when her bottom lip began to tremble and the tears broke free. She began shaking and I caught her just before she was about to collapse to the floor. We sat there, for endless minutes, as I caressed her back and smoothed her hair from her face as she sat in my lap clutching on to me for strength.
After she had quieted down and let a weighted sigh release from her body, she stood up. "I’m just going to freshen up, then can you drive me there, I don’t think I..."
"I’ll go start the car, let it warm up a bit from the cold." I kissed her on the cheek, telling her with more than words how proud I was of her.
The drive to the hospital was silent, I held her hand with the opposite one I was using to steer the car, and she silently looped her fingers in mine and gave a little squeeze, thanking me for not giving up on her. I watched her walk toward the entrance with a slight sadness and apprehension in her step. I could picture the way they would sit in bed together, Sarah crying for not coming to spend time with her sooner, Aunt Betty hugging her body close while whispering words of comfort, and finally telling jokes together. Aunt Betty always told the best jokes, especially the off-color ones.
As I watched the cold snow begin to fall on the warm pavement of the parking lot and the white puffs as I exhaled, I realized that tonight there would no longer be the slight tension at home. I would not have to worry about tiptoeing around the subject and even though things would not be the same, I knew we would be okay, because we would always remember.
Love you guys!