Trifecta: Week Ninety-Seven
Here is my submission.
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The Countdown
Melissa looked out and groaned inwardly.
He was up on the rickety ladder, trying to hang a string of light bulbs on to their Christmas tree
Aloud, she said,” Clarence, don’t you think it is too early to decorate the tree? It’s still two weeks to Christmas!”
He grinned, the lop-sided one, which once had charmed her. She hated it now.God, she hated him now!
“Oh Mel!
She hated it when he called her that!
“Christmas is in one’s heart. It’s giving and spreading love. I want to spread it, “ he literally cooed.
Someone kill me, cried Melissa silently.
She went in .She would rather not be party to this kind of foolishness and definitely not be the object of derision of the amused passers-by.
She was glad that all this would be over soon.
It had not been like this always.
They both had met in college and fallen in love. Everyone envied them. They looked perfect together, were intelligent, funny and had a bright future ahead.
After graduation, they landed plum jobs, tied the knot with the blessings of their families. Nothing could have gone wrong.
But it did.
Recession hit and Clarence lost his job. He sank into depression.
She had a miscarriage.
He took to drinking.
Many sessions of counselling ensued and he joined AA.
Then the real trouble started.
He met Greta. She was all that Melissa was not.Frumpy, boring with no class or education to speak of! A real dumb-ass!
But by Jove, she knew how to spout the scriptures and was a fanatic.Funnily, Clarence, took to her and her teachings like a duck to water.
After failing to wean Clarence away from this suicidal “religion” and the clutches of his ever present Greta, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
The countdown had begun.
Clarence was going to receive a beautiful Christmas gift, for Melissa was in a mood to give too. Their divorce was going to be granted on Christmas Eve!
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@Zebra Crossing 
Ouch! Nice piece. I like the back and forth between her inner monologue and their dialogue. You squeezed a lot into a short space. You have such a distinctive voice–I love it.
Aww,thank you so much Margit for this lovely comment-so sorry am late in responding and missing your piece last week 😦
Dude, the stores around here were already putting out Christmas decorations on the last few days of September. I would love a guy who waited until only two weeks before the holiday haha
Lol!Really?Must be damned excited about their upcoming sales graph going up & up 😉
What a gift!
It must be quite awful to spend your days with someone you detest. Especially when it’s someone who was someone else in the beginning.
Yes,am sure it must be!And yes,you got it right about someone who has changed:-)Thank you so much for coming by to read and comment:-)
I’m one of those ready the day after Thanksgiving Christmas decorators. Thanks for linking up!
Thks for coming by to read Laura-guess it takes all kinds to make this world interesting 😉
What? Another one without a murder? You’re going soft, Atreyee 🙂 This struck me as sad because I think the fixation on the early decorating was really unresolved issues with all the turmoil they had experienced. Of course, that’s often how the grating annoyances are! I guess he’s lucky that he’s getting a divorce for Christmas and not a poison pie 🙂
I love u Janna!!LOL!You are so right-am going soft 😛 Thanks for reading & yes there is a sadness when a person changes and love dies 😦 Ah!Wish i had thot of poison pies-good idea for my next 😉
Nothing like religion to break up a marriage! Especially with when a prostheletizer is involved.
So very true Kymm-thank you so much for coming by to read-sorry I missed your’s but will catch up this week-you did not enter this weekend,no?