Monday, November 02, 2009

Prompt #14

I know, I haven't put up any prompts in a while. Mainly because I haven't done any in a while. But I did one a bit recently and since I can think of nothing better to post, I thought I'd put this up for your enjoyment. Feel free to comment!

I was on the plane, on my flight back from Houston where I had been spending the past few days fighting off a horde of savages, otherwise known as a family re-union. I was looking forward to getting back to the peace and quiet of my apartment in New York, when I started to overhear the conversation of the couple sitting in front of me. Having nothing better to do, aside from read the book I brought, which currently held no appeal, I idly listened in.
“What do you mean, you don’t think you can do this anymore?” the man’s voice was low, his tone was slightly threatening. “It’s getting too much, I think my husband might begin to notice.” The woman lightly sobbed. “So what? You don’t care, or you said you didn’t a month ago, why don’t you leave him?” She started to cry harder. “Because….because I think I might be pregnant with his child!”
I gasped, but not so loudly that they could hear me. While I was no stranger to the horrors of the world, this was the first time I had had such a drama played out in front of me. I leaned forward and held my breath. My morbid sense of curiosity aroused.
“What do you mean? How could that be? You said you hadn’t…” his voice trailed off. “Oh. Never mind, I see it now.” His voice had turned angry and bitter. The woman sobbed harder, and seemed to turn away from him. Her shoulders shook, and she covered her face, as if seeking an escape. The man instantly turned remorseful. “Hey, babe, don’t worry, we can work this out…”
I leaned back, my curiosity for the moment satisfied. I didn’t really want to get involved. This was not my problem, not my affair. And yet…something about it resonated with me. Something about the situation this (seemingly) young couple brought back to me memories…memories of what my mother had told me years ago. How she had had an affair, but dropped it, when she realized she was pregnant with me.

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