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I hope you enjoy the book.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

The new widow


She received a phone call from her father-in-law.

"Beti, your husband is no more."

Amidst his and her tears, she dropped the phone onto the floor. As her father-in-law's voice faded away, she could only see the haze of her bedroom through her glistening eyes. She imagined his 6 feet tall, muscular build laying on the hospital bed, lifeless and stone cold. She cried even more. Stretched out on her bed, her body shook uncontrollably as she buried her head into the pillow.

Last night, her husband had returned home at midnight, much earlier than usual. He was unusually quiet and his silence always scared her. It meant that something was amiss and she dreaded to think of the time when the silence would break. For two hours, she could only hear his heavy breathing and the ticking of the clock in the room. When she gathered her courage, she asked him if he wanted dinner. She only heard a grunt. She withdrew.

The next few hours, she watched her husband drink. With each drink that he guzzled, she felt her body muscles tensing. Her neck hurt. Her shoulders hurt. Her fists were clenched. Her breathing becoming slower. She counted the number of drinks he was having..counted and counted until she lost count. She awaited the news with fear. What had happened today?

She never found out. Her husband started vomiting. She saw that he struggled to breathe. He fell on the floor and continued vomiting even when on his back. She watched him. She turned her face away and watched him suffer. He stretched his hands out and she continued to watch him until he fell unconscious. And then she quietly walked into her bedroom and waited for the sun to rise.

The stench of his vomit kept her awake all night. In the morning, she called her father-in-law and told him the state of her husband. The ambulance was called. And now he was dead.

She cried harder. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled through her tears. Her mouth would no longer be swollen, she would receive no more scars on her face, her bruises would now heal, and she was free.

Free from the clutches of an abusive husband.

7 comments:

Preethi said...

wow. i liked this story more. Just went past myself. Again told in few words. An impossible task for me! ;)
will move on to your next post now...

Whiterays said...

I second preethi..Makes a good flash fiction. Will dig for more.

manisha said...

mnmn....really nice description.....i didnt know people do write fiction in their blog......so good to see this....iw s searching for fiction content....

Solitaire said...

@ Preethi, Thanks a ton!!!

@ Swetha, I hope more comes soon. Am suffering from Writer's Block at the moment.

@ Manisha, I will write more soon so keep visiting!

vagabond dreamer said...

nice twist. love the way u put it. uve got talent ill say it again if i havent said it again

shex said...

"...smiled through her tears..."
wonderfully expressed

ishqia said...

when i read she didnt call the doc at night.. i suspected ur twist