Bob loved taking Carole to the lake. Their whole history together could be seen etched in the shoreline like rings in an ancient redwood.
Here's where they first met, arguing over who owned a particularly abundant fishing hole. His hat glinted with lures tied by his father. Her overalls rolled up to expose ballet-strengthened ankles.
This is where they drove off together, shedding Prom clothes as they chased each other across the sand; where their first fumbling lovemaking stripped away virginity. Bob proposed to Carole over by the worn flat rock jutting from the surface, their heads rising and falling rhythmically to their dogpaddling, until he slipped the ring on her finger under the surface.
She would laugh for years, claiming he duped her into marrying him. Their children would beg for the story to be retold, and they passed it on to their progeny like rings rippling out from Bob and Carole's exuberant presence in the water.
And today, Bob and Carole held hands until the sun set over the trees, staring out over the liquid book of their lives. With her final breath, he kissed his wife of sixty years and carried her out, buoyant with the help of the spirit of the lake, the water closing over the couple, welcoming them home.
Together.
***A big life in so few lines.***
Saturday, November 10, 2007
~Together by Guy Anthony de Marco~
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Kathy kept looking into the shadows, seeing the Loch Ness Monster breaching a lake, Sasquatch stalking a forest, a bunyip creeping the shoreline.
By the end of the honeymoon, Dave was looking for a reality where Kathy didn't exist.
Bob loved taking Carole to the lake. Their whole history together could be seen etched in the shoreline like rings in an ancient redwood.
Here's where they first met, arguing over who owned a particularly abundant fishing hole. His hat glinted with lures tied by his father. Her overalls rolled up to expose ballet-strengthened ankles.
This is where they drove off together, shedding Prom clothes as they chased each other across the sand; where their first fumbling lovemaking stripped away virginity. Bob proposed to Carole over by the worn flat rock jutting from the surface, their heads rising and falling rhythmically to their dogpaddling, until he slipped the ring on her finger under the surface.
She would laugh for years, claiming he duped her into marrying him. Their children would beg for the story to be retold, and they passed it on to their progeny like rings rippling out from Bob and Carole's exuberant presence in the water.
And today, Bob and Carole held hands until the sun set over the trees, staring out over the liquid book of their lives. With her final breath, he kissed his wife of sixty years and carried her out, buoyant with the help of the spirit of the lake, the water closing over the couple, welcoming them home. Together.
"I'm here."
Caroline looks at the sun setting over the lake, listens to the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking. She listens to her own breath moving in and out.
Caroline is a good mother and a lousy wife. She adores her children and would do anything for them. She abhors her husband and does little for him. She is between two worlds - full of hope and hate.
He's sneaky. He makes a show of playing with the kids (at his convenience), he takes them all out for dinner (when he wants a particular food), he gives her money (to reward Caroline for being good).
She's muddled. She watches him playing with the kids (hoping and relieved), she eats when they go out (never finishing the food), she takes the money (she has to feed her children).
He doesn't beat her (as he points out many times) but the scars are deep. Caroline knows this is not what she deserves, and this is not the way her children should grow up. But she's so tired.
One day she told the kids, "I'm going away for two days and daddy will take care of you. I promise I'll be back in two nights. I love you always, no matter what."
As Caroline looks at the lake, she recalls her husband asking, "What will I do with them for two days?"
She hears her children crying, "Who's going to feed us and take us places?"
In her pocket Caroline feels half her weekly allowance. In her heart, she feels she can do it.
"I'm finally there."
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