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Monday, May 14, 2012

Trifecta Writing Challenge - We Got Trouble

She did not think that it was a big deal that he had a blue collar job. He was obviously a good father - he had custody of his kids. And, actually, she thought it was great that he was so handy! On their third date, he had installed three ceiling fans in her house and FINALLY hooked up the damn automatic ice maker in the freezer!

"I'd like to see a pencil pusher do THAT!" she thought to herself.

It was good to have a man around for the boys. She would watch him play with the four little boys - his two and her two. And, it felt right.

They were married.

But, within a few years, the trouble began. When they met, she had not been out of grad school long. But, then she got a promotion and then a new job, and within those first years, her salary was double what hers - and his - had been in the beginning.

It caused trouble in their marriage. She was not the one that had the problem with it. She still respected him. But, he could not respect himself.

"I WORK for a living!" he would blurt out, out of the blue. "I don't sit around in an air conditioned office!"

He had always spanked the boys, and she had been alright with it. They were a boisterous mob, ages six through ten, and a spanking once in a while was fine. She had been spanked as a child.




But, now he started to get really rough with the kids. It was as though he were full of anger, and if one of the boys added one more drop to the bucket, he would overflow in a raging torrent.

In the end, she had to take the kids - all of them - and go.



I have prepared this for the Trifecta Writing Challenge! Click over and take a look - its a lot of fun, and a great bunch of people!

26 comments:

  1. Very written & thought provoking.

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    1. Good trouble! Full of it in fact.... I love the details of the fans etc. wonder where this could go? I

      I still have to write my own trouble. A hard one!

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  2. Hi Libby, You've won a copy of Shadows Walking by Douglas R. Skopp from Diary of an Eccentric. If you could email your mailing address to me at diaryofaneccentric(at)hotmail(dot)com no later than Thurs. May 17, that would be great!

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  3. Ouch. It starts off sounding so idyllic, and then all starts to fall apart. A kind of trouble we can unfortunately all picture. Well told.

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    1. Thanks...yea, it usually starts good. But, then...

      Thanks for coming by and commenting!

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  4. "I WORK for a living!" Gave me chills (even in the unairconditioned heat). Well done.

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    1. Cause you can feel all the anger and resentment behind those words...

      Thanks for saying 'well done'!

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  5. great job libby, kinda tugged at my heart :(

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  6. This story was so believable. It's sad when we let pride and jealousy ruin a good thing. I'm glad she had the courage to take the kids and go when she saw it wouldn't get better. Staying would have been a much sadder story.

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    1. That is a good point! Staying would have been a sadder story.

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  7. I'm sitting here yelling (on the inside) RUN!!

    Glad she was able to get out. More to the story?

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  8. Oh how sad. How many marriages and men were ruined because of this reason? This is nicely written. :-)

    ~Imelda

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    1. Thanks. Yea, you know of the seven deadly sins, I think envy is the worst. It makes you want to destroy the other person. Pride, sloth, lust...they are nothing compared to envy.

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  9. There is a fine line between working together, and falling apart, this story bridges both. Nice job on the write!

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    1. Thanks very much, November! I think this is exactly how things turn sour...

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  10. Well written piece. Makes me want to know more.

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    1. Hmm...maybe I could do a continuing saga :)

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  11. I felt like I was climbing a ladder and then fell down from the top at the end, emotionally speaking.

    This was really well delivered prose. The pace was perfect.

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    1. Thanks, Lance! That's really nice of you :)

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  12. I felt so sad for those children, especially the two that were his to begin with. But I'm so glad she took them, too.

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    1. She couldn't just leave them behind. You would have done the same thing.

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  13. Sad. You never know what it takes to make a good man go bad.
    Thanks for linking up again. Please come back and join us for the new prompt tomorrow.

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