SOCIAL STUDIES, BOOK TWO - Shattered and Broken - an excerpt
PASSION FOR STAYING PUT - PAGE 25 - 27
In a dimly lit corner of the sitting room Arthur sits, book in hand. His long, string bean body is stretched out in an old, faded lazy-boy chair that used to be maroon but now borders on a shabby pink. "Turn the lamp on. You'll ruin your eyes trying to read in this light! Storms coming!" I send the double warning his way but he demonstrates his usual selective hearing.
Arthur Fletcher pays me not the slightest mind. I cross the room and turn the lamp on. When I approach him I watch as he raises his right hand and with a quick jig of his index finger he pushes his eyeglasses into a more comfortable ridge atop his bulbous nose. "Nothing wrong with my eyes, mother."
"If there isn't, there soon will be! And I'm not your mother!"
"Now that is a fact. My mother knew how to keep quiet when a fellow was trying to read. I'm smart enough to know that."
"Every man is smart until he says something! And you better watch what you're saying if you want supper on the table tonight."
"With a sigh he lays his book aside. I'm just joshing with you, Marion, but I confess you are very proficient at getting on my nerves. Woman, don't you know you are getting me all riled up? You keep talking away while you know darn well I'm trying to read. What's the matter with you today, Marion? You're as jumpy as a virgin at a prison rodeo."
"You mind your tongue!" I snap.
I turn my back on my husband and walk over to stand before the living room's large picture window. The pounding in my head gives way to a pulsing ache.
I take a deep breath in an effort to still my mind. At last I am quiet with the view from my window.
My vacant stare barely takes in the green grass or the branches of the Maple tree as they bend in a breeze that I can tell is determined to become a strong wind. The sky is black. I don't want to look at its anger. I want release from my own.
I keep my eyes focused on the Maple standing tall on the front lawn between our house and the country road. I don't want to remember the road and I'm glad I can't see it from here. And I don't want to remember the swing that used to hang from the Maple's strong, inviting, outstretched limb. Instead I allow my mind to drift back to a better time when life was worth living; when my life held meaning and its name was Jennifer.
SOCIAL STUDIES, BOOK TWO - Shattered and Broken is available in both Kindle and Paperback formats on all Amazon sites. You can find it on my Amazon Author's Page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin
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