Thursday, October 30, 2008

short story - Whose favor should she be in?

The couple was leaving the grocery store. The husband was pushing the cart and the wife was following behind. As they reached the door, an item fell out of the cart of another shopper. The wife stopped to pick up the item for the other shopper, unbeknownst to the husband. As he leaves the store, he turns back to see that his wife is not following as closely behind him and he lifts his eyebrows as if to say "What happened?". His wife replies, "I stopped to help someone pick up something they dropped." Her husband shakes his head in dismay. He is single minded in his need to get out of the store where everyone gets in his way and his need to get home to relax. "I am just trying to find favor with the gods", his wife states. "Well, you are losing favor with me", he tosses back. They both smile. He knows he is intolerant, and she knows that he knows. It is just the way he is. At least he can laugh about his intolerance. She loves him anyway.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like it. It sounds like you're writing from experience, and when a writer believes what they say, it's that much more potent.

Deborah Ruthenberg said...

Yes, this was an actual experience with Dave and I. I thought it sounded better in story form.