A nice story
He looked her in the eyes and said: “What is wrong with you? I’m trying to have a serious conversation here and you just aren’t listening…. I give up.” „Come on Henry” she said and laughed. “Of course I’m not listening, because you are talking nonsense! You know,sometimes you really scare me. Maybe I’m not the perfect woman for you, and maybe I won’t ever be, I don’t know. And what’s worse, I don’t even care anymore.” He couldn’t move, nor speak.
He had no thoughts in his mind he was completely wordless. His mind was drawing a blank.
„Whatever.” she said and left. Henry stood there for another ten minutes without moving and then had to sit in his favorite chair in his favorite room, where eleven minutes ago his wife dumped him. “I don’t believe it. After twenty years together…she just…no she did not. I just wanted to talk about the mole in their garden.” He needed a glass of whiskey or a smoke, but he had neither whiskey or cigarettes. „Shit.” He stood up a go to the bedroom. April wasn’t there, but her clothes were. “Maybe, she’s just angry…she will come back…maybe not. What will I do? Where do I go?” He did go somewhere. Henry calmed himself at least a little bit a went to the nearest store to buy a nice big bottle of bourbon and a pack of cigarettes. He had never smoked. But I believe if there is such thing as a right time to start smoking, it certainly was then. His wife left him, and he suspected she might have also been cheating on him. And if she did not, she would be before they were divorced. “I can kill myself, of course I can,” He said loud, back in his study, drinking a bourbon and smoking a Lucky Strike. “but why the hell would I do that?” was his last thought before he fell asleep in his chair.
“Wake up Henry.” said a familiar woman’s voice in his dream. “Yes, yes I’m up.” He opened his eyes and squinted at his wife’s face. “What are you doing here”, he said, “didn’t you leave me yesterday? ” “Yes I did, but I still live here. What did you think?!” I went for a walk last night and when I came back you were sleeping here. We need to talk, I want you to move out as soon as possible.” “Really? You left me, and I should move out? That’s ridiculous. Tell me dear April, since when have you become insane? You move out. Get out of my house, you crazy b-” He wanted to finish, but he didn’t. It was too hard- he still loved her and even though she acted this way, he still found her very attractive, even after 20 years together. “You are still drunk, you jerk! Go and get yourself together, I don’t have the nerves for this.”
“I should’ve cheated on her when I had the chance…that nice japanese nurse of mine, she was cute and she was really into me, but Noooo, ‘I have a wife, I’m sorry, I can’t have sex with you!’ Shit. I should’ve fucked her when I had the chance. He was in the bathroom, getting himself together as instructed. Henry stood there, watching his own face in the mirror. It was a handsome face of a 50 year old dentist.
But now it also looked kind of tired and older then it really was. “I take my time here, have a bath, shave my face and little relax and thinking before I have to talk to her again.” he thought to himself. April was waiting in the living room for an hour and half. She was a bit furious and nervous at the same time because she didn’t love him anymore. It was a full month before when she met someone at work, though she slept with him since that. She wasn’t always like that. „I loved Henry, when I first met him, I guess…Oh god, I don’t even know if i ever really loved him. Maybe he is right and I am crazy. Thank God the kids are in college.
Finally he came back from the bathroom. He looked relaxed, and sported a different look on his face; he shaved completely for the first time in fifteen years. “Why did you do that?” April asked, “you never shave your face completely.” “I guess I needed it. I’m starting a new life. Completely without you, so I had to make some changes. You know.” His voice was calm and he was smiling a little bit.
“I guess you are right. You know, I wanna talk to you. I was thinking I’d go to my sister’s, but I realized this is just between us. I want a divorce and I don’t want to tell anyone until we’ve decided about everything. Agree?” “You mean until You decide everything. There is no room for me, I guess.
Because until last night I didn’t even know, that something is wrong between us.” „Come on Henry, don’t make me feel bad. Divorce, yes, but I just don’t love you anymore. There is no way to stop feeling my feelings or pretend that I don’t have them.” “Can you please just cook breakfast for us? One last time? Let’s talk about it after food, I’m starving.” “But-” “Please. I promise after breakfast we’ll figure everything out.” He assured her. “Alright, but i need to take a quick shower before that. I just came back from my morning jog.” She went to the upstairs bathroom. When she came back, Henry already made the breakfast and served everything on the dinner table. “Please eat darling. Our last breakfast as a couple. “Please just don’t dramatize this like always.” “Oh, this is tastes like crap…I’ll eat at least half of it to make him happy and then we’ll talk” she thought. „Henry, I don’t feel good. Oh God, I think I’m gonna barf…I think the eggs were bad…Can you please get me some water?” He sat still in his place and looked at her smiling “I’m sorry darling. Are you all right? You look kind of red and swollen.”
She could no longer even speak. She fell down to the floor, trying to catch her breath. “Oh my God, I think I know what is wrong with you; I may have put an onion in your omelette and didn’t remember you are highly allergic to those.” “Help-” she yelped with her last breath. “You know, nothing of this would’ve happened if you’d have been just a little bit more sensitive.” He stood up and walked away to his study. There he put on his favorite music and read his favorite book. After midnight he took April’s body and buried it next to the their old dog’s grave in the garden and planted a bunch of white roses the same night. “They were her favorite flowers. I set them that day, I just wanted to make a nice surprise for her. She just went to buy some eggs for breakfast. What will I do without her, she was my whole life-” he said and broke out crying, when police questioned him about his wife’s disappearance.
It was a quiet night. Marcy looked down from the balcony and saw a fish floating in the air above the garden.
She wasn’t quite sure if it is real; it left her completely breathless.
It was a turquoise fish with little pink dots.
She wasn’t quite sure what she was seeing or doing; she ran through the house and stopped at the last stair leading into the garden.
The fish was still there floating, mute.
After a while when she just stood there and watched something so unbelievable, the fish turn around in the air a looked at Marcy.
„Oh no-” said Marcy aloud and covered her mouth. She was afraid the fish would disappear.
But it was still there, floating above the magnolia tree, so quiet, so beautiful.
Marcy stepped down from the last stair into the garden and slowly walked toward the fish.
She was now almost near enough to touch it.
„Come here, please. I won’t hurt you, I just wanna touch you. Just a little bit.” She stood next to the magnolia tree trying to reach the fish; standing on her tiptoes she could almost reach it with her fingers.
„ Ah” she said and fell down on the grass, losing her balance”
„Marcy, Marcy where are you?” Said a man’s voice from the house.
„What happened, why are you laying on the ground?”
„Oh I’m fine Robert, i just fell down, i was trying to touch the em a magnolia flower over there” and she pointed to the highest flower on the tree.
She couldn’t tell him what she saw, he would probably never believe it anyway.
„Darling, come inside please, it is getting cold outside, I made tea” said Robert, returning to the house.
Marcy was sitting on the grass for the next few minutes, trying to realize if what she saw was real, and if it was not, what that meant for her. I’m ill again, I’d just never tell anybody, that’d be better, I’m not going to take any pills.
When Marcy was eight years old, she watched her mother dying. They walked in the bakery to buy some fresh bread.
Marcy had already reached the bakery, having ran with their dog the whole way from the house, leaving her mother a little ways behind.
While her mother was crossing the road, a police car ran her down.
Later they told Marcy and her father it was an unhappy accident. The police were chasing another car driven by criminals who just robbed a shop.
But after a few years she came to realize: there was no other car, she stood there a few minutes before her mother arrived and she did not see another car.
She told her father, but it was too late to do anything about it.They had no proof.
That was when her problems started. She was eleven and she could not concentrate on anything. She wouldn’t eat, only just a little, wouldn’t play with other children, she just stayed in her room or in the garden watching birds and the trees most of the time.
She also had horrible nightmares about her mom and the day she died. One day she stood on the balcony, just like today and looked to the garden and saw the same fish floating in the air.
Marcy went down and stroked the fish and talked about how she felt that day and about everything on her mind. The fish never answered, she was just there, and Marcy felt safe and peaceful for the first time in very long time.
The fish was there every day for a whole week, so she decided to tell her father about it. She was so happy and excited and was sure he will be too. But he wasn’t.
„Daddy, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you happy? Come with me, I will show you!”
This time the fish wasn’t there.
She never forgot the careworn and sad look on his face.
He was the greatest father and greatest friend to her all of the time, but this he just did not understand.
Next day he took her to the psychologist. He prescribed her some pills and they talked about her mother’s death, The recommended visits lasted once a week for three months.
After the pills she stopped seeing the fish, but sometimes she’d dream about it. She also started sleeping better.
She even found a few new friends at school, got higher grades and everything seemed better.
Marcy is twenty nine now, she has a husband, Robert. They met at the university and since then, they fell in love.
Everything was great until last month when her father died of a heart-attack and Marcy inherited the house.
She had a great relationship with her father. Her dad loved Robert as a son and was very happy when they decided to get married.
After his death, they both agreed on moving to the house to stay and start a family.
„You are very quiet this evening, is everything all right honey?”
„ I think , I’m just a little bit sad tonight” she said
„ It is because of your father. It’s month today since he died. Is there anything I can do for you?”
„I guess you’re right, I didn’t realize that.” Marcy took a deep breath and continued : „No there is nothing you can do, just be with me”. She sat on the couch right next to him, leaning on his shoulder. He held her hand.
After almost an hour of silence, when Robert fell asleep, her head started filling with thoughts. Most about her parents and the fish.
Why can see it again? She was afraid and she wasn’t sure if she can talk to Robert about it. “But I always talk to him about everything, it is just not fair if I keep this to myself. But no, I don’t want to make him think I’m insane.”
She was stressed and tired but she couldn’t sleep.
Marcy carefully stood up as quietly as she could, careful not to wake him.
She grabbed a sweater from the hall, went outside and sat down on the swing.
It was a cool yet beautiful spring night.
She looked at the magnolia tree again.
„I’m just waiting for the fish, it’s not real, so why am I still worrying myself?”
She sat there looking at the tree and soon fell sleep.
„Wake up,wake up, whispered Robert shaking her.”
„ Stop shaking me, I’m up” she said trying to focus on his face. ”What?”
His face had a strange grimace and he whispered;
„Look, there , that is not possible, this can’t be, how?”
”What are you talking about?” She said and looked the same way her husband was looking.”
The fish was back, above the magnolia tree as before, so peaceful and beautiful.”
„You, you..” she faltered “You can see it?”
„ Yes, oh yes I can, this is the fish you told me about from your childhood, isn’t it?”
„ There are two possibilities, we are both crazy or this is real!”He said, still whispering.
Marcy took his hand, stood up and together approached the fish.
They stopped in front of the magnolia, watching it from close distance.
It is the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
Marcy stretched out her hand and offered Robert to do the same.
He did as she said. They were there, both with hands stretched out and the fish was flying in their direction, to Marcy’s hand, touching her, and then to Robert’s hand as he touched it too.
Then the fish stopped and looked at them; they were holding hands.
The fish shone bright like a white halo. The shine was so strong, they almost couldn’t look. Then a flash and it was gone along with the fish.
They stood there for few more moments with their hand stretched out and then sat on the swing. They were happy.
After a few years of hesitation, Robert said to Marcy;
„I think that fish was your mom”.
They never saw the fish again, because they never needed to.
