Wednesday 2 March 2011

Lucy and me



Did I ever mention Lucy? I have been living with her for so long now and we don’t get along. I have given her up at least four times but somehow I am still here with her. I am weak of course but she is weaker and that weakness is her power.

I have just got up, I have showered and am sitting on the settee wondering where all this is going. Looking back it has been a continuous cycle of rows, usually silent, stand offs, reconciliation and explosive making up in bed. That is my weakness.

We are like a match and matchbox one needing to rub the other the right way to explode into flame. Here she comes now, I fidget with the strewn papers on the settee as though I am tidying up and she is prattling along in her usual way about whether we should meet for lunch. I try not to look at her because what I said yesterday was so final. “Lucy, this is not working” I said, and she cried as she normally does. I tried to be strong but I am not like that, I am weak. And who wants to sleep on the floor when there is perfectly good double bed waiting for you.

I need my sleep so I say to myself. That is a lie of course because I know that as soon I get into bed I will find she is not wearing a stitch and she will wrap me up in hers arms and I will have lost again.

I lie a lot. We do have another bed in the apartment. It is my bed. It is never used. Even the first day that she invited me to stay over several months after her husband Jack had died I never used it then. The family thought I was there to look after her. Was I looking after her!
Jack was my older brother. I loved Lucy the first time Jack brought her home to show her off to the family. I didn’t realise it then but when she looked at me all those years ago she must have thought “Oops! I have chosen the wrong brother”. But then just as now she was weak and couldn’t reverse the tide.

She is standing close to me now, she has bare legs and her pretty feet are so close I could eat them up. She knows that, she knows me well, we have that affinity, we love each other but we shouldn’t or should we?

When I say to her “It is not working” that is not true it is working very well indeed. We just have to wait for an appropriate time to break it to everyone. Everyone may already have guessed. It is just that when Jack said to me at the wedding all that time ago “If anything happens to me you will look after Lucy won’t you? I didn’t reply “Nothing is going to happen to you”. Instead I said with perhaps too much eagerness “Of course I will”.

17 comments:

  1. very enjoyable and the words and story surprise me (always a good thing for a writer to hear from a reader!)

    My 3WW offering.

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  2. I agree with Julie. It is always a pleasure in a story to be surprised at the end.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I always enjoy a story that flows so smoothly I have to search for the three words. . . somehow, in the interesting pull of the story, I had forgotten to look.

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  4. Cleverly done, with just enough left out of the end to make the reader wonder.

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  5. Oooh, a beleivable tale laden with so many emotions and the ending gave me goose pimples.

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  6. You couldn't get further from Maisie if you tried. A very entertaining story, and with a moral to it as well: Always keep your promises!!

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  7. What a gem! 'a match and a matchbox'..love the subtle use of the prompt..and I wonder who will go up in flames..Jae

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  8. I want to be there when the family figures it out. You'll tell us all about that, won't you?

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  9. I like the humanity in this - the strong sense of human nature. This piece flows very well.

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  10. mmmmm, just realized that people are writing stories here rather than poetry. Never could fit into the rules very well. Let me know if I need to put my poems in paragraph form so you will think it is a story. Love this piece. Maybe you inspire me to try story writing. Have told the children stories for years. Thanks for visiting me! hugs, pat

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  11. I don't see this relationship turning out so well! Well-written, interesting story; wouldn't mind seeing this expanded. Thanks for your comment over at my place, since it prompted me to come over here and see your fine work.

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  12. The story sounds almost wicked but her, logically they *can* do it. That's a crisp write up and I enjoyed reading it.

    I had a busy week so I saved your blog for the weekend when I can enjoy it :)

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  13. Hmmmm I am awaiting the next installment.

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  14. Promises we keep are not always the ones we want... this is a fascinating relationship. I agree with Linda May: There is more to be mined here, Robin. Loved it.

    I was later, but better late than never:
    http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/affinity-for-coffee/

    Peace, Amy

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  15. well late to the party again! Now you have me wondering exactly what happened to Jack? Tidy accident? Seems like a lot of guilt...Oh my goodness!

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  16. What a curious tale. I am entranced, but feel as if I want to know more. What a difficult situation - but one that seems to have its resolve in the near future.

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