A Short Story

******Him

It had been a bad day at work. My boss had been riding me all day. I came within a hair of telling him off and walking out. At the end of the day I went to the parking lot to find my car had a flat. It was hot and the lug nuts didn't want to let go. Then the air conditioner wouldn't come on and I drove home covered in sweat from my battle with the bad tire. It didn't get any better when I got home. My wife was in a bad mood, too. I tried to ignore her and stew in my own misery until she snapped something at me that pushed the wrong button. We ended up in a huge fight and I said some terrible things I didn't mean. She ended up crying and running to the bedroom, locking the door behind her. I sat pissed off in the living room nursing a beer.

As my temper cooled I began to come to my senses and I felt ashamed of the things I had said. I got up to go to the bedroom and apologize to her and ask her to forgive me. Just before I reached the hall the door opened and my wife walked out with two suitcases in hand. She walked past me and glared.

"I'm leaving, you son of a bitch," she snapped at me on her way out the front door.

I ran after her and tried to apologize. She wouldn't listen to me. With tears streaming down her face she got in her car slamming the door and peeled off to leave me staring at her disappearing tail lights. Now the tears poured down my face. I fell to my knees and prayed to God that she would come back. I rose and went into the house still crying. Maybe she would calm down and turn around. Maybe she would come home. I love her so much, I need her, I know I can't live without her.

I figure she's going back to her parents. They live two hundred miles away and I'm afraid if she gets over a hundred miles away she will be gone. I start calling her phone but she doesn't answer. It's not looking good, I'm afraid I've lost the love of my life. I wander aimlessly from room to room, I don't know what to do with my self. An hour has passed and I'm still alone. I cry and pray again. I walk outside to the backyard and see the swing I hung for her from the branch of the big oak tree. I sit in it and think of all the ways that I loved my wife and I'm so ashamed of myself. How could I treat her like I did.

*******Her

I was having a bad day. It seemed like everything I tried to do went wrong. First I somehow put a red shirt in with with whites and everything came out pink. I dropped one the plates while doing the dishes and it broke all over the floor. I went shopping for groceries only to find I had left my check book at home. I had to come all the way back to get it and return to the store. When I was putting the milk away it slipped from my hands and the top popped off when it hit the floor, spilling everywhere. I was in a lousy mood by the time my husband got home. I tried to tell him how bad things had been and he just ignored me. That only made it worse. I said something, I don't even remember what, but it was enough to start a big argument. I said terrible things to my husband that I shouldn't have but I was so mad and hurt. I ran and locked myself in the bedroom.

I wasn't thinking, just reacting. I packed two bags and walked out of the room. My husband was coming towards me and I glared at him, daring him to touch me. He didn't and I went out the front door telling him I was leaving. He followed me out trying to apologize, but that only made me cry. I got into my car slamming my door and drove away as fast as I could. It wasn't long before my phone began to ring but I didn't answer it. I was headed for my parents house. I had nowhere else to go. I had driven about thirty miles when I started to cool down and think about what had happened. I can't even remember what we were arguing about. I just remember saying horrible things to him. I'm so ashamed of myself now. I remember seeing him in the rear view mirror. The tears running down his cheeks and how he fell to his knees in the yard watching me drive away.

I think about my husband, the man I love so much. Suddenly I realize how much I need him. I can't live without him. I turn my car around and start driving back home. I have to apologize to the love of my life. I pull up to the house and run inside going from room to room but he's nowhere to be found. I'm getting frantic. As a last resort I look out into the backyard and in the gathering gloom I make out his back. He's sitting in the swing that I had begged him to put on the branch of the big oak tree. I walk out the back door and come up behind him silently. I see him sitting, his proud shoulders slumped forward shaking as the tears fall from his eyes. My heart is breaking and again I am ashamed at how I treated this wonderful man. He hears me start to sob and I see his shoulders stiffen.

*****

The husband rises from the swing at the sound coming from behind him and sees his beautiful wife standing there crying. He starts walking to her and she runs and jumps into his arms. They are kissing and talking, both trying to apologize. He picks her up in his arms and carries her to their bedroom where they hurriedly undress each other. He lays her on the bed and they make passionate love. Afterward they talk. They talk about the things that led to their argument and what their day had been like. They realize how they had lost sight of the most important thing they had, their love for one another. They vowed to never let it happen again. Once more they make love reforging their bonds. They fall asleep that night holding each other tight.