Creative Writing Ink Prompt April 9th 2015
http://creativewriting.ie/writing-prompts/
"So when I turned into Palace Street, there he was, waiting for me with his hands in his pockets and a bud on his lips. I just couldn't believe it! I mean, come on! It's been, like what, 10 years! And he just shows up as if he just went to get milk. To be honest I nearly had a heart attack!" Clara was tripping over her own breath, and Amy seized her chance.
"Well... You've been waiting for him for 10 years."
"So what? He thinks he can just pop round with no notice and I'll welcome him with open arms and a freshly made bed? Do you know what he said to me?..." She paused. "He said: 'Hey baby, the motel down the road has no vacancies.'!"
"Seriously?!"
"Oh yeah! Honestly! Can you imagine? I nearly dropped my keys... I'm pretty sure part of him just wanted to see me lose it. Well, I didn't."
"What did you do?" Amy inquired.
"I gave him directions to the Vacation Inn."
Amy bursted into laughter. That was so Clara. She could serve the funniest comebacks without so much as a shudder. The fact she was oblivious to them only made them better, in Amy's eyes.
"Oh Clara, I do love you!"
"Yeah yeah... Laugh all you want! But let me tell you, he wasn't laughing. He gave me a frowning look and I made for the front door. I just felt so angry inside! Furious! And that surprised me."
"Why?"
"Because I love him. Well I mean, I did. I do. I don't know. I never felt angry towards him before. All I ever felt until now was sadness and emptiness. I never realised how angry I was."
"So maybe it was what you needed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe you can turn this anger into action, and finish with him once and for all. Look, 10 years is a long time. You built him up in your mind. You said so yourself, you've never had any other meaningful relationship because you're still hung up on him. And now he shows up and straight away he acts like the fool he is. You gotta read the sign when it's right in your face darling. Tell him to never darken your door again. Tell him to his face. Don't text him, don't email him. Tell it to his face."
"Yeah, I know, I know..."
"But?..."
"What?"
"I can feel there's a 'but'."
"Well..." Clara froze for a few long minutes. It was shooting out of her aorta, circulating up and down, bleeding into all her veins, until she could no longer restrain it. "I'm scared."
"Of course."
"I mean, I'm really scared. I'd rather avoid him, forget him, forget about him."
"Ah ha! You can't."
"I know."
"OK, this is hard for me to say because I love you and I don't want to hurt you, but.... yes, but you need to cut off from him in a literal way and that scares you because then you'll have to face yourself. He won't be the face of the enemy anymore. And you're scared that YOU will."
"So when I turned into Palace Street, there he was, waiting for me with his hands in his pockets and a bud on his lips. I just couldn't believe it! I mean, come on! It's been, like what, 10 years! And he just shows up as if he just went to get milk. To be honest I nearly had a heart attack!" Clara was tripping over her own breath, and Amy seized her chance.
"Well... You've been waiting for him for 10 years."
"So what? He thinks he can just pop round with no notice and I'll welcome him with open arms and a freshly made bed? Do you know what he said to me?..." She paused. "He said: 'Hey baby, the motel down the road has no vacancies.'!"
"Seriously?!"
"Oh yeah! Honestly! Can you imagine? I nearly dropped my keys... I'm pretty sure part of him just wanted to see me lose it. Well, I didn't."
"What did you do?" Amy inquired.
"I gave him directions to the Vacation Inn."
Amy bursted into laughter. That was so Clara. She could serve the funniest comebacks without so much as a shudder. The fact she was oblivious to them only made them better, in Amy's eyes.
"Oh Clara, I do love you!"
"Yeah yeah... Laugh all you want! But let me tell you, he wasn't laughing. He gave me a frowning look and I made for the front door. I just felt so angry inside! Furious! And that surprised me."
"Why?"
"Because I love him. Well I mean, I did. I do. I don't know. I never felt angry towards him before. All I ever felt until now was sadness and emptiness. I never realised how angry I was."
"So maybe it was what you needed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe you can turn this anger into action, and finish with him once and for all. Look, 10 years is a long time. You built him up in your mind. You said so yourself, you've never had any other meaningful relationship because you're still hung up on him. And now he shows up and straight away he acts like the fool he is. You gotta read the sign when it's right in your face darling. Tell him to never darken your door again. Tell him to his face. Don't text him, don't email him. Tell it to his face."
"Yeah, I know, I know..."
"But?..."
"What?"
"I can feel there's a 'but'."
"Well..." Clara froze for a few long minutes. It was shooting out of her aorta, circulating up and down, bleeding into all her veins, until she could no longer restrain it. "I'm scared."
"Of course."
"I mean, I'm really scared. I'd rather avoid him, forget him, forget about him."
"Ah ha! You can't."
"I know."
"OK, this is hard for me to say because I love you and I don't want to hurt you, but.... yes, but you need to cut off from him in a literal way and that scares you because then you'll have to face yourself. He won't be the face of the enemy anymore. And you're scared that YOU will."
"After you left I couldn't go past this place. The same tape kept playing in my mind, over and over. You cooked me dinner, then we went out for drinks. Remember? I laughed and smiled. I had a good time. I thought you had too. Then in the morning you were gone. As always I hadn't heard you leave the house. You were at work. At 6pm you'd phone to ask if we had everything we needed for dinner. But you never called. Instead you texted. And that was it. That was the end of my world. Now, I don't want to hear what you have to say. I imagined it a hundred times over. I wondered how often you thought of me. I imagined that you loved me. I imagined that I loved you. None of it matters anymore. There is no you. There's only me."
"There was nothing I could have said."
"See you around Tommy."
<© asd – 2015>
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