Monday, August 12, 2013

Trifecta Challenge: Grasp



“I didn’t understand it at first either.” He said by way of explanation. I was trying not to cry into my duck curry. Nights out were a rarity and I didn’t want to ruin it by making a scene in our favorite Thai restaurant. How he maintained composure telling me what he told me, I’ll never know. “But all those dreams weren’t of him. They were of her. In hindsight he was showing me my future.”
                I almost couldn’t grasp what he was saying. It shouldn’t have been that much of a shock. I’d known about his weird prophetic dreams since the beginning of our relationship. They stopped being eerie coincidences and had become something else entirely. And now there was this.
                “But you had me convinced he was going to be fine. You told me those were dreams of him, that he was going to normal and healthy.”
                “At the time I thought they were. I was so adamant about it. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was being shown. Now I know.”
                “You almost lost me in those days.” I started crying and stopped caring what the other patrons thought of my little outburst. “You were so….”
                “Abrasive, stubborn?” he tried to interject.
                “Militant,” I said, a little smile escaped my lips. To his credit, he shrugged and smiled.
                “I know. I’m sorry. I just thought I knew what he wanted, or ‘They’ wanted.” He wouldn’t come right out and say God, or Higher Power. They was always his shorthand.
                “And now?”
                “I’ll never be so brazen as to presume again. We had him and now we have our daughter and I’m happy. I think that’s what I was being shown. I’m sorry it took this long to figure it out.”
                “You figured it out. And you have us and that’s really all that matters.” I smiled.  

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This little story is for the Trifecta Writing Challenge. This week's challenge was Grasp. The above story is 330 words.  

8 comments:

Draug said...

Paranormal in a painfully normal setting. I like it.

Anonymous said...

"He wouldn’t come right out and say God, or Higher Power. They was always his shorthand." Great lines!

Trifecta said...

Wow, this is interesting. You had me at duck curry. :-) Thanks for linking up this week. Make sure you come back and vote at the end.

Ivy said...

Their exchange is one you might hear with a "normal" couple, yet not because of his visions--which means you made an abnormal relatable. It's heartbreakingly intimate. Well done!

One little note--In this sentence, it seems you left out "be" after "going": You told me those were dreams of him, that he was going to normal and healthy.

glynis rankin said...

Interesting how you made this seem so normal, normal setting normal, couple,normal but. I enjoyed this a lot.

Anonymous said...

I love what you *didn't* say, what you let us figure out. This is brilliant - one of my favorites of yours ever, I think, and you're a pretty damn fine writer.

Suzanne said...

I really like the "normal" setting in contrast with the not so normal conversation. And the line about trying not to cry in the duck curry was brilliant. Well done!

The Bloody Munchkin said...

Thanks Trudging through Fog and everyone else for the lovely comments. I had a hard time with this one actually. Rereading it, I felt it was kind of weak. I think it was because I was too close to the material. Thanks for showing me its value.