“So, you want to go back to the beach this fall,” Michael said, his eyes on the bright brochures spread across the breakfast table between him and Elise. “Did you even give any thought to the mountains?”
“Well, a little,” Elise answered, her hands clenching into fists in her lap. “But you know what the cold does to my arthritis, and I thought…”
Michael’s icy, blue eyes lifted, bored into hers. “You thought what?”
Now it was Elise’s eyes that dropped. “I thought you’d want…er…me to be…” She swallowed the growing lump in her throat. “Comfortable. And I can’t…” Tears filmed her eyes. “I can’t be when all my joints ache.”
Michael stood, swept the brochures and his half-full cup of black coffee from the table. “You know what’s wrong with you, Elise?” he asked, a sneer twisting his lips. “All you think about is yourself.” He stalked to the door leading into the garage, yanked it open, and said over his shoulder, “Take an aspirin, you’ll be fine.”
When Elise heard the garage door closing, she rose unsteadily to her feet. “I can’t go on like this,” she muttered under her breath. “I just can’t.”
Pixie slunk into the kitchen, her grizzled head hanging low. Whining, the old spaniel looked up at Elise.
“I just can’t,” she repeated to the dog.
Elise squatted and began picking up the cup shards, her hands now steady and her fear gone. “I guess I’ll just have to kill the son-of-a bitch.”
Pixie yipped her agreement.
“Now, where did I put that book on poisons…”
©2021 KT Workman
That was a quick “left turn”—I was laid back, ready for another one of your marvelous tales. Only got to take one sip of my morning hot chocolate … and BAM!
Another good one…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Sister. As in the case of all tales, they set their own length. I just follow along. 💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved that ha ha!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! Revenge is hell. 😁
LikeLiked by 2 people
Excellent story telling, Kathy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Alan…short but not so sweet. 😎
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wonderfully brief but very complete scenario KT. I have to admit, there was a time in my life when I could sympathies quite easily with your female character. I got a divorce instead. It didn’t fix everything, but it certainly smoothed over and filled in a lot of potholes. Good to be back here after way too long.
Elizabeth
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good to see you again, Elizabeth. I took an extended WordPress leave as well, probably about six months. The well dried up there for a while, which it does from time to time with me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love how you can spawn so much character with so few words…and it inspires the reader to fill in the blanks: before and after that space in time.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Aw, thanks, J. (Blushing) You always have a way of lifting me up. 💙
LikeLike
Sadly because Covid I can’t Travel anymore for my blog that I just started. Feels really sad that I have to wait before planning a new travel journey 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
The day will happen when you can travel again. I don’t know what country you reside in, but here in the USA, we’re hitting the roads again.
LikeLike