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What was I supposed to think? He just sat there on the bed. Dumb as a rock, mascara tracing a ragged line down his cheeks, like a bad joke, his bust lopsided, the stuffing coming out and wriggling down the inside of his dress. He held the red curly wig between loose fingers. What could I do? I unclenched the handle and let the door shut behind me. The latch clicked back in to place as it closed. The telephone started ringing. I ignored it and walked down the hallway to the kitchen.
I heard him crying. I poured a drink. I felt like vodka but we only had some green stuff, Verdin I think it was called; Liora dropped it off last time she came back from Mexico. I poured a large glass and left the bottle open on the kitchen table.
I guess I felt calm. But I felt like I was just playing a role. I tried to work myself up to get all indignant – but I couldn’t. The truth? I suppose I felt relieved. The marriage had been ceremony and circumstance for years. At least now, we could both get on with things. Poor old Eli. And the dress kind of suited him really, though the wig was like a badly fitted sheitel. Well, the dress looked better on him than it did on me anyway. He had the ankles for it. Mine always seemed to be swollen and I have a nasty red blotch just below the back of my knee. I have big feet.
It was actually Liora who had first showed me the pictures. She’d found them on some special website. Though what she was doing on the internet, I’ll never know. The woman can barely make instant coffee by herself. Now, I was a little surprised when she first showed me. I didn’t let on though. I played stoic. She said she felt sorry for me and she hugged me. I think she was enjoying herself. Still, who can blame her?
I knew I’d have to wait for Eli. If I shouted at him, things would just get worse. I poured the rest of the green stuff in the glass and took some matzah ball soup out of the fridge. I lit a cigarette and turned the radio on. The crackling sound of the Irving Aaronson orchestra spat out. I admit I danced a little that evening as I heated the soup up on the stove.
I waited but he was still crying at midnight. I left the house and took a cab to my sister’s. The police found him the next morning. They said he’d hanged himself.
I decided in the end to keep the pictures that Liora had found. They were the only ones I had where Eli was actually smiling.
David Rees-Thomas is originally from Wales and currently resides in Japan. As well as his own writing which has appeared in various publications, he also does audio narration of other people’s stories for podcasts such as StarShipSofa and Transmissions From Beyond.
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13 Responses to “THE HARDEST WALK • by David Rees-Thomas”
Comments
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March 13th, 2010 at 1:02 am
That was a weird one. But a very engaging read the way information was gradually revealed.
The repetitive form ‘like a bad…’ / ‘like a badly ….’ pulled me up a bit in such a short piece, but is easily fixed.
Good job.
March 13th, 2010 at 4:47 am
I don’t get it! No score sorry.
March 13th, 2010 at 6:12 am
An original take on the end of a relationship, subtly and fluently done. A good twist in there, but woven neatly into the narrative which makes for a satisfying read. The characters are really well established right from the start and the narrative voice carries you along beautifully.
Nice work writer.
March 13th, 2010 at 7:25 am
A beautifully written (almost perfect) slice of life that goes on behind closed doors much more often than we will ever know. Was he a cross dresser? XXY? The answer hardly matters. . .but cceptance does. Sad! Sad! Sad!
March 13th, 2010 at 8:21 am
This is fabulously sad, tragically beautiful. I love it!
March 13th, 2010 at 8:59 am
Really well written, sad story. The wife doens’t seem very accepting. poor Eli.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:27 am
I absolutely loved, loved loved this story. There wasn’t a phrase or a word I would want to change. I would not call this piece sad. Other words come to mind such as engaging and poignant. The ending was perfect.
March 13th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Wonderfully written throughout and I agree with Louise – the ending is perfect. Five stars.
March 13th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Tough, emotional piece. Started off thinking Eli was a circus clown based on the first paragraph description and had to go back and get my bearings, but once I was on track, this one was good.
–John
March 13th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Thank you, your comments are very much appreciated and, of course, I am obviously thrilled that most of you seemed to enjoy it, really made my day.
Now I can get on with the vacuuming and laundry with a smile on my face!
Cheers,
David
March 13th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Wait…what? David, you write AND clean? You’re going to blow my cover. I’ve convinced my family that I can’t do both, hahahaha!
Seriously, my better half used our one-vote-per-IP-addy voting for your story this morning, but I’ll be registering my vote from my office tomorrow and will give this tragically lovely story the stars it deserves. Truly a wonderful piece of flash. I look forward to seeing more of your work.
March 16th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Pretty good, pretty good, pretty good. Definitely original. Well written. The end of a relationship. Did I say it was original? I loved it.
April 7th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Short and poignant but I wished you had chosen to develop the story a tiny bit more. For example,it could take a little more insight into the marriage. Was it longstanding? Was it stale? Why did she leave him so easily if she loved him enough to keep the pictures? (Implied.)If she had kept the pictures as the only recent ones she had of her husband,albeit in woman’s clothes,(rather than ‘of Eli’)it might have added even more pathos and avoided the confusion of why she would keep a reminder of something that ended her marriage.