Hey guys!
I know this is super late but I wanted to still get it out there. The prompt came from Today’s Author and was posted on their blog May 23, 2014. They argued with such vitriol that they didn’t notice the child standing between them, until the unforeseen happened.
Enjoy!
“I’m so tired, John. I can’t give anymore, I’m tapped out.”
“Please Georgia, your being dramatic.”
“Dramatic, John? How is trying to discuss your drinking problem and your inability to keep a job dramatic? How is me asking you to help with our kids dramatic?”
“It just is, now move so that I can leave. And where are the keys?”
Georgia doesn’t bulge; she digs in her heels and blocks his way.
“The only way you’re getting out of here is if you’re walking, I won’t let you leave here drunk and kill or injure yourself or someone else with the car.”
They argued with such vitriol that they didn’t notice the child standing between them, until the unforeseen happened.
John grabs the keys from the hook by the door, “I said move Georgia!”
“I will not John!”
Georgia tries to grab the keys from him and they began to struggle. She remembers a time when they used to be passionate about their love and their future together. But as she looks into John’s glassy inebriated eyes, she knew her husband John Wilson was not there and he hadn’t been for a while now. An impostor who looked just like John stood before her instead, a stranger was present. Mind and body in agreement Georgia decides to surrender and maybe try to sooth John to stop him from driving drunk. Before she could put her thought into action John forcibly yanks the keys and growls, “LET GO!”
He shatters the mirror above Georgia’s head in anger. But as she’s ducking and trying to cover her face, she’s not worried about herself, she’s worried about her 6-year-old daughter who somehow made it in between her and John while they were arguing.
Time slowed down for Georgia as she tried to shield her baby from the angry shards falling from the mirror. Knees aching and bloody, Georgia could hear her heart beating loudly and the blood storming through her ears. Her pain and discomfort, she ignores, the only thing that matters is the shaking 6-year-old who’s clutching onto her for dear life.
John looks on in horror and stares at his wife and daughter in utter shock. In a voice foreign to even his own ears, he says, “Georgia are –.”
Without moving an inch or raising her head from her daughter’s she cuts him off. “Don’t, just don’t.”
“But Georgia. I’m –”
“Not right now John.”
The crushed sound of her voice breaks his heart. Seeing her stand on shaky bloody legs and lifting their frightened child into hers arms sobers him up. She looks older and defeated before his eyes and he knows he’s the cause of her pain. John watches Georgia under his eyelashes as she puts their child on her hip and tries her best to side-step some of the broken glass. In the middle of the room, John stands and stares at empty space. Not knowing how to redeem his self or how to apologize to his daughter or his wife, John decides that maybe a plain old walk around the block will do him some good. Maybe the fresh air will clear his mind and usher in some lasting positive change.
Leave comments and feedback, please. Thanks for reading!
Life's Crossings 