For Round 8, we asked you to send us original fiction that begins with this sentence: "She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally decided to walk through the door."
It also had to be 600 words or less. Here is my submission:
She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally, decided to walk through the door.
Maggie’s marriage was over. She had waited to tell Bob when he came home from work, but he hadn’t come home. Again. She had sat reading her book in the big old quiet house, after putting the little one to bed, waiting for him to come home. Calmly, waiting to tell him she was leaving him as she listened to every car that passed by.
They had married late. Both of them were almost 30 years old in 1937. She came from a family with some money -- her father owned a successful business -- so she had dated some of the more privileged boys in town. But it was the tall, dashing, charming Bob that swept her off her feet. He was fun, enthusiastic, educated and intellectually curious. They spent many nights talking about the news, books, and their dreams for the future. He tried to teach her chess, but they played bridge or cribbage instead. Although he had a college degree, she did too from a good women’s college, and he always respected and listened to her opinions and ideas.
Maggie’s parents hadn’t liked him. They thought he was a little wild for her. He was not Midwestern. He had grown up in the west and they characterized him as a cowboy even though he always dressed in the best suits he could afford, and didn’t even own a cowboy hat, boots or bolo tie. His engineering degree was from a western state university so it did little to impress them. Since he wasn’t Catholic, Maggie and Bob had had to get married at her parent’s home instead of a church. However, he held a well-paying engineering position with a big company and could support their daughter. Maggie knew that Bob was the man for her. She had dated many men and not one of them had made her feel the way Bob had. Her stomach leapt when she saw him and her blue eyes sparkled .
They married and moved to another Midwestern town for his job. They had a beautiful baby girl together in the year after the wedding. Pearl Harbor started the war. Bob was able to get a deferment as head of household, so he stayed stateside. That’s when the drinking started to get worse. He would go out for drinks at work, at lunch, for dinner, coming home later and later. They talked about it. They fought about it. When they went to parties, he consistently drank too much, did something embarrassing, and she drove them home in silence. The next day he would be remorseful and attentive to Maggie and to their darling, dark-haired little girl.
Finally, Maggie had had enough. After a disastrous dinner party, she had given him an ultimatum. Stop drinking or she would leave and take their daughter. Bob knew she would do it. He swore he would stop drinking for her. And he did. Their marriage got better. He was home for dinner most nights. He played games with his daughter, teaching her the alphabet and her numbers and reading books before bedtime.
The drinking began again after six weeks. Bob thought he was hiding it from Maggie. She packed suitcases and put them in the car. She had saved enough gas rations to get to her parent’s house. She picked up her sleeping little girl, bundled her in blankets, and put her in the car. She left a note and locked the door.
Her marriage had lasted four years.
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