Challenge #14: Weekly Drabble
On the television, a young, attractive couple embraced in a fit of emotion. On the sofa, Jennifer blew her nose and wiped her eyes. She glanced over at her sleeping husband next to her. His unshaven chin quivered as he let out a snore. He lay there in his underwear and his favourite shirt, the shirt that was scattered with holes and stains from various greasy meals.
It wasn’t that she didn’t love him-she did. Her life with him just wasn’t what she thought it would be. As a young girl, she fantasized about what her future husband would be like. Undoubtedly, her images would morph into the latest heartthrob playing the sensitive romantic whose passion would win over the resisting target of affection by the end of the movie and they would presumably life happily ever after, just as they appeared at the end of the movie.
But James wasn’t like that. He was never terribly romantic. He didn’t exactly sweep her off her feet in a fit of passion-sure, there’d been passion, but it hadn’t lasted long as a baby appeared shortly afterward, which began their life of mundane rituals. While he was dashing in his youth, his looks had faded and his waistband expanded. She discovered, only after they’d been married, that he possessed certain annoying habits, like leaving dirty clothes strewn about the house and the toilet seat up, that just were never spoken of in romances.
As she turned off the television, she sighed and reminded herself, regretfully, life just wasn’t like in the movies.
It wasn’t that she didn’t love him-she did. Her life with him just wasn’t what she thought it would be. As a young girl, she fantasized about what her future husband would be like. Undoubtedly, her images would morph into the latest heartthrob playing the sensitive romantic whose passion would win over the resisting target of affection by the end of the movie and they would presumably life happily ever after, just as they appeared at the end of the movie.
But James wasn’t like that. He was never terribly romantic. He didn’t exactly sweep her off her feet in a fit of passion-sure, there’d been passion, but it hadn’t lasted long as a baby appeared shortly afterward, which began their life of mundane rituals. While he was dashing in his youth, his looks had faded and his waistband expanded. She discovered, only after they’d been married, that he possessed certain annoying habits, like leaving dirty clothes strewn about the house and the toilet seat up, that just were never spoken of in romances.
As she turned off the television, she sighed and reminded herself, regretfully, life just wasn’t like in the movies.