Flash

Until Now

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Rochelle at Friday Fictioneers
has challenged us to respond to this photo
in 100 words or less. Here is my story.

Photo Prompt © Susan Rouchard

Hard to imagine life without her. When the hell did everything start to unravel?

He sat alone in the shell of their apartment nursing his second Dewars. Once upon a time this place was alive with people enjoying one of their famous dinner parties. He could hear the sound of her spirited laugh when someone told a dirty joke. 

They were the perfect couple, the envy of all their friends. Theirs was an easy, comfortable marriage. They were in sync in their choices of restaurants, paint colors and the biggest decision of all .… neither one wanted kids.

Until now.

NAR©2024
100 Words

2 February 2024

This is Landon Austin with “Blindsided”

This portfolio (including text, graphics and videos) is copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR © 2017-present.

63 thoughts on “Until Now”

  2. You captured a universal dilemma and brought it to life. Sometimes what we think are important decisions really aren’t. The beauty of this story for me was those final two words because they made me look at the story in two completely different ways. Both sad ways, but both good.

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  3. We both wanted children. He thought two was the ideal. I thought four would be more fun. The third child was a surprise, but it was our third son, and we thought we’d like to have a daughter. So we decided to go for four, and we got our girl. And I got my four. No harm, no foul 🙂

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  4. Dear Nancy,

    How sad that having kids is the deal breaker. He’s up quite an impasse if she’s the one who doesn’t want children. (I did read the above comments.) Sorry about that there word count thing. 😉 (Not really). Well done in any event.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Rules are rules, after all, and it’s all part of the challenge.

      We like to think we know all there is about our life partners and things will never change; as we’ve all learned at one time or another, nothing lasts forever.

      Thank you, Rochelle. Your comments are always appreciated and welcome.

      Peace, dear Rochelle 🕊️

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  6. So tragic when a marriage fails. I like how you show their life in snapshots – restaurants, dinner parties, jokes. But your choices here also point to a life lived on the surface of things, and your twist at the end carries through on the hints you’ve placed, that there was in fact something missing deep down. Great story.

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    1. Thank you, Margaret. Before people marry, hopes and dreams and goals are excitedly discussed; they are of one mind about the really important things. The decision to have children is a bit more weighty than deciding whether the kitchen should be painted yellow or white. When one partner has such a life-altering change of mind, how can it not crumble even the strongest of marriages?

      If anyone could have read the part of my story that was cut out because of word restrictions, they would have learned it was the husband who realized he wanted children and the wife who wanted a career. His mistake was believing he would be able to change her mind.

      I greatly appreciate your comments; you always have something insightful to offer.

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    1. The husband changed his mind; he realized he wanted to have children after all. He’s only human and people change their minds all the time, although usually not about something of this magnitude. His biggest mistake was believing he could convince his wife to change her mind.

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    1. Actually, it was the husband who changed his mind about having kids. If you had a chance to read the portion of my story that was cut out to meet the word limit, all that would have been revealed. The husband’s biggest and most naive mistake was believing he could convince the wife to change her mind. Blindsided, she took her stuff and left.

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  11. A very realistic write on the relationship of marriage.
    It irks me when someone says that a couple has the perfect marriage.
    How would you know what goes on inside their walls. There are many who, I would think, pretend about their relationship. But anyway, I digress.
    I had a chuckle because Plaridel, you and I wrote about the MC drinking whiskey. Drinking must be the great escape. Great write, Nancy. Have a good weekend … Isadora 😎

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    1. Thanks so much, Isadora. And I’m not much of a drinker!
      I don’t know a single person who’s perfect. How dull that would be.
      It’s very true about not knowing what goes on behind closed doors. But that’s a topic for another story.
      Thanks for your great comments!

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  14. Sad, but there’s no other way around this situation as a couple unless one is prepared to remain unhappy. That just doesn’t work. 😶
    And that song. Nancy, I absolutely LOVE IT. It’s another I’ve never heard (can you believe that 😉), but it’s fabulous.

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    1. Just getting around to your comment, Tom, and now I see your reference to the song. Thanks! I was lucky to find it.
      I loved what you said here: “There no other way around this situation as a couple unless one is prepared to remain unhappy.” Absolutely perfect definition. It’s a doomed relationship.

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  17. So many couples push aside the deal-breaker decisions. Of course, maybe at the time, she really didn’t think she wanted kids. I prefer to think that than to think she lied about it, hoping he’d change his mind. That is never good. Sad that he was not to be budged but best to quit now. So sad.

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    1. Absolutely right, Dale. As I commented earlier to James, if you had seen the original before I cut it down to meet the word requirement, you would have seen that HE was the one who changed his mind and wanted children while she wanted things to stay the way they were. Either way, once this happens, both parties need to be all in or all out.

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      1. My bad! I should not have assumed it was him. I hate when I do that. And I just reread your story and no, there is nothing specifying who wants what. And yes, as my brother-in-law always says, it takes two yeses because one no, makes it all moot.

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  18. I’ve known so many couples ending on this sad note. Usually they argue about it, a LOT. But non-negotiable, and probably best, for the kid’s sake.
    Masterful twist on the final two! 😲

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