Short Story

The Facade

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for OLWG #406.
The three prompts are shown below.
Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction;
it is not about me and my husband.
The only parallel is the death of my
husband’s identical twin on April 2, 2024.
This is a look at what might have been.

Dreamstime

When the news of the sudden death of Alex’s identical twin brother arrived, everyone was in a state of disbelief. No one could talk. Hell, no one could breathe, the shock was that great. Horrible things like this happened to other people …. not Alex, not his family and certainly not his brother Paul.

Alex’s wife Dana carried a double burden: her grief, of course, but also her great concern for Alex. She always liked to say that she was Alex’s wife but Paul was his other half …. and it was true. From the moment of conception, Alex and Paul were constants in each other’s lives. Afraid Alex might fall into a deep depression, Dana kept a close eye on him.

The days following Paul’s death were terribly sad. Alex was broken-hearted but kept his emotions in check, only shedding a few silent tears at the funeral. He was subdued and introspective but not visibly upset. Sometimes Alex would look at photos of Paul on his phone and quietly weep in the privacy of their home. But Dana knew her husband so well; this was how he dealt with loss. He was not a big fan of PDAs. Still, Dana was worried that Alex might be depressed or in denial and she encouraged him to talk to her about Paul, which he did.

As days turned into weeks, Dana began to notice changes in Alex. He would spend more time inside watching TV and less time outside walking the dog. He stopped showering every day, opting for three times a week and he began to gain weight, snacking at night while watching television. Alex had little desire to go out and when Dana suggested going shopping or catching a movie, he would balk.

One day as Alex was taking out the trash, Dana noticed he was wearing a shirt that was so worn, there were huge holes at the elbows. She was upset and embarrassed knowing the neighbors saw the condition of his shirt. For the first time in all their years together, Alex was showing his age. His sandy brown hair was streaked with grey and his eyes were not as bright as they once were; a candle had been extinguished. Alex complained about everything and groused constantly about his aches and pains and being cold all the time; he chalked everything up to old age but he was only 70 years old with many plans remaining on his bucket list.

Dana became increasingly unhappy; there were fun things she wanted to do and she found herself resenting Alex. Now everything her husband did annoyed her and her feelings of resentment turned into anger. In the evenings after dinner, Dana sat in her recliner, her discarded book laying open on her lap, as she stared at Alex snoring loudly in front of the TV.

And she wondered exactly when it was that she began to detest him.

NAR©2025
#OLWG

Here are the prompts: 1) in your misery you’ve begun to hate everything; 2) you’re alive, you have a story to tell; 3) todo me sale mal (everything goes bad for me). We can use one, we can use three or none at all. We just need to be creative.

This is “Crumblin’ Down” by John Mellencamp

OLWG#406- Consider the Mondegreen

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️ 🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al. and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

33 thoughts on “The Facade”

    1. Thank you for this brilliant comment, Michele! You summed this up in a single sentence: One brother passed and the other lost. The death of one’s identical twin brings a sorrow so profound, it’s impossible for the observer to fully comprehend. It is deeper than the loss of a parent, a spouse or a child. I will be forever thankful that my husband can talk to me about what’s in his heart. ♡

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      1. Grief affects everyone differently. When my Mum died in 2018, my sister shared nothing with me of her last moments or the funeral arrangements. I took it hard and was so glad for Hubby, then realised that he was grieving too as he thought a lot of my Mum. My favourite picture of them is hanging in a collage in the hall. She’s knitting and he’s tying tiny bows in her yarn. It took her a while to realise it wasn’t accidental!

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  11. Grief is a huge burden to bear by yourself, and everyone handle it differently, but here he should have confided in his wife and let her into his heart, that was in desperate need of repair … Here is an emotional piece I wrote about my nephew’s suicide last week …

    there is a fine line
    between pleasure and pain
    there are bad moments
    between life and death
    there is black space
    between here and the sun
    there is night
    when there is no light
    and there is only dark
    on the other side of the moon

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    1. Thank you, dear Ivor. Forgive me for not asking about your family recently since the death of your nephew. Having had a nephew who took his own life, I understand their grief firsthand. Thank you for this poem which touched my heart. Yes, in a perfect world Alex would have opened up to his wife; there are too many people, especially men, who look upon sharing their grief and crying as signs of weakness. That “weakness” could be the thing that saves their lives. 🥰

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      1. Thank you for your kindness Nancy … I spoke to my on the weekend, she’s doing it tough and has to do everything up there in Sydney by herself … we had a heart to heart chat … she’ll be ok 😊😍🥰

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