FLASH FICTION:-- HORROR, SCI-FI, HUMOUR, CRIME, SLICE OF LIFE, ETC.

Thursday 14 February 2013

Taken for granted


Alan staggered through the doorway, almost dropping the flowers chocolates and card in the process. He had been an arse lately, even by his own standards, but he was pretty sure the peace offerings would smooth things out a bit.
She was cooking a special romantic meal for the two of them tonight, and he was ravenous. Alan glanced at his watch, the football was on telly in just over half an hour, with any luck he'd have finished eating in time to catch the start of it, the perfect end to the day.

Yeah, he was a few hours later than he said he'd be, but he couldn't refuse an offer of a beer or two with his workmates on the way home, could he? And anyway, what difference does just one more time make?

He walked into the kitchen, following the appetizing aroma of recent cooking, a silly sheepish grin on his face.

“'Appy Val'tine darlin'.” He slurred. “Sorry I'm a bit late, but y'know...”

The scene that greeted him stopped him dead in his tracks, shocking him to silence.

The floor was strewn with smashed crockery, the walls and appliances smeared and streaked with what looked like the remains of spaghetti bolognese, tomato sauce traced a track down the fridge door and pooled at the base.

Gouged deeply into the surface of the dining table were the words...

THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU BASTARD

Alan placed the presents on the table, covering the words, hiding the truth from himself, something he was rather practised at these days.

He took the scotch bottle and a tall glass from the cabinet, carefully avoiding the sticky strings of spaghetti that clung to the door as he did so. He poured himself a stiff one, then walked into the lounge and slumped into an armchair.

He looked around the room, at the clean squares on the walls where this morning there had been pictures, at the half-empty CD rack, at the almost bare bookshelf with its single bookend.

She had gone. Packed her stuff, and left.

The house already felt cold and abandoned.

Yes, she had gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Yes, there's nothing you can do about it NOW.” Said his inner voice. “But there was something you COULD have done about it. Some things you SHOULD have done about it.”

The voice harangued him mercilessly.

“Would it have really harmed to come straight home from work a couple of nights a week instead of calling to the bar with your mates?

On the rare occasions you took her out, she always looked stunning, would it have been too much to tell her sometimes?

Was it beyond you to hold her and tell her how much you truly loved her occasionally?

And all those delicious meals that she had spent half the day preparing, meals that you wolfed down so you could get back in front of the TV, wouldn't the repeats have waited an extra fifteen minutes while you showed some appreciation? And would the odd compliment have gone amiss?”

Alan poured himself another strong one, then sat there with the tears rolling down his cheeks as the home truths continued to batter him like hammer blows.


©2013 Stephen. J. Green.

26 comments:

  1. These realisations always come too late, don't they?

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    1. They usually do Maria, especially to Arses like Alan, who just don't appreciate what they have.

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  2. Oh Steve this is so sad. It started out hilarious but turned into a heartwrencher, which is so close to the "truth", (real life), that it makes for an oustanding story. Great work!

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    1. Thank you Deanna. The problem with guys like Alan is that they selfishly get away with whatever they can, and it never really dawns on them that it may not go on forever that way, until it is too late.

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  3. Well done. I'm not exactly feeling sorry for the guy but maybe he'lll learn to be a bit nicer.

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    1. Thanks Catherine, I share your sentiments exactly. Let's hope he treats the next one better, if he's lucky enough to get another one.

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  4. Hmmm, one last great meal left for him if he bothers to scrape it off the fixtures & fittings!

    marc nash

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    1. Oh Marc, your comment really made me smile, a comical slant on the situation. :-)

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  5. Yup, show a little appreciation once in a while, or it could be gone in a day.... Good illustration!

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    1. Thanks Larry. As Joni Mitchell sang...

      "Don't it always seem to go,
      That you don't know what you've got
      Til its gone."

      I think Alan has had his eyes opened wide.

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  6. I've been looking around to see if I can find any sympathy for Alan...Nope!

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    1. I've looked deep and wide myself Peter, and I'll be darned if I can find any either. :-)

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  7. "But it's too late, too late, too late too late for love..." and pouring a strong one ain't gonna help. It's a shocker when realization comes with a cold slap across your face, but have there been no signs before it? If only he wanted to see them.

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    1. Hiya Cindy. I think there would always be signs when any real-life relationship is under threat, it's more a case of whether those signs would be heeded, and addressed though. People like Alan would probably just ignore the warning signs and assume that things would always carry on like they have in the past.

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  8. I hope at least that football match was a good one! He surely would've been pretty drunk by the time it started half an hour later. Sounds like this guy's problems at home were his own fault, and his wife really just couldn't stand another day of it.

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    1. I couldn't agree more Richard. As for the football match, I wouldn't be surprised if she has taken the television cable with her. :-)

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  9. He deserves worse than a haranguing internal monologue for behaving like that.

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    1. I agree Icy, and I think he is already counting the cost of his behaviour.

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  10. She should have disposed of the scotch before leaving too. No sympathy for Alan from me either.

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    1. Yeah, another crutch kicked from under him. I think Alan would be hard put to find sympathy from anywhere just now.

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  11. No sympathy from me, although I am impressed that he had the self-awareness to realise he'd been a jerk, rather than getting angry at her for leaving a mess and not "talking about it." This was very well-drawn, and packed an awful lot in to so few words!

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    1. Thanks Katherine. I almost didn't post this, there didn't seem to be enough impact at the end for my liking, but it had to be posted on St Valentine's day, and I ran out of time before I could think of a better ending.

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  12. I think the ending was solid, Steve. It left me thinking along with Alan. A powerful piece.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words Chuck, I wasn't totally disappointed with this piece, I just feel that it could have been better somehow.

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  13. Steve I haven't seen you around for a while, is everything okay. You're missed at Friday Flash time. ^_^

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    1. Hiya Helen, it's lovely to hear from you. Yes, I'm fine thank you. (I've sent you an email.)

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