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What Do You Think?

by tusker 

Posted: 24 November 2009
Word Count: 371
Summary: For Charlotte's Invisible challenge


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‘What do you think?’ Thelma’s husband looks from up his newspaper and nods. ‘Tell me, Simon, what do you really think?’ He smiles, nods once more and goes back to reading the sports page.

‘What do you think?’ Thelma asks her twenty year old son, Josh, as he gets ready for a night out with his friends. He looks up and nods. ‘Tell me, what do you really think?’ In reply, her son asks if she’s washed his designer jeans.

‘What do you think?’ Thelma asks her seventeen year old daughter. Samantha looks up from painting her toe nails. She nods and Thelma asks, ‘Do you think it suits me?’ Samantha nods again and goes back to painting her toes.

Thelma now stands in her bedroom and studies herself in a long mirror. The new dress, she’d bought that morning, now seems dowdy like an old granny’s dress. She hears her family’s voices. Samantha is arguing with Josh on the landing. Downstairs, her husband is joking on the telephone with his pal from the Golf Club.

Twenty four years of marriage, she thinks, have brought her to this day of revelation; a revelation, she must confess, that has been nudging at her mind for some time. She takes off her new dress and regards herself in the long mirror, noting that though her body is still slender, her neck needs a lot more daily and nightly moisturising.

‘Oh, dear.’ She sees four fine lines have appeared at the corners of her mouth. She peers closer. God! Is that the beginnings of a moustache above her top lip? Now she takes off her bra and pants. Does a few twirls and jiggles. I’m real, she thinks. I’ve not grown invisible, but to the rest of the world, she feels she has grown into a middle-aged ghost.

The front door slams shut. She can her children still arguing as they head down the path. Silence falls. The bedroom door opens. Simon stands in the doorway grinning at her. Thelma blushes. Grabs up her new dress and holds it, like a chaste virgin, to cover her nakedness.

Then he tells her, ‘I think you look delicious tonight, Thelma,’ and pushes the bedroom door shut.







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Comments by other Members



CharlieMac at 18:09 on 24 November 2009  Report this post
Wolf whistle!

I feel so sorry for your heroine, Jennifer, but so glad it turns out alright for her in the end. (Well, more than alright, wey hey!)

I admire her inner strength -

Now she takes off her bra and pants. Does a few twirls and jiggles. I’m real, she thinks. I’ve not grown invisible

- as she gives self-love a go while her seemingly mundane life unfolds around her. At least SHE still appreciates herself while all around her treat her like an apparition. Perhaps that's why she gets so deservedly rewarded at the end?

This story is actually very evocative of an email someone sent me today about perception. Joshua Bell, a famous and extremely talented musician, was asked by the Washington Post to play incognito in the metro station as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. He played six Bach pieces on a 300-year-old violin for a period of 45 minutes. During that time approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. (Those who did were mostly children). No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. He packed his violin away and left. He earned a total of $34 that day. (His seats normally sell out at $200 a pop.)

My point is, people are so engrossed in their own problems and day-to-day lives that half the time they don't appreciate beauty when it is right in front of them. Obviously Thelma's husband saw sense, but your story did pull at my heart strings for the poor woman and taught us all a lesson in taking stock of our surroundings once in a while. There's always something beautiful going on...

Well done!

Judge Charlotte


Prospero at 19:53 on 24 November 2009  Report this post
So there was a spark there after all.

It is sad how we go through so much of our lives not seeing the things that really matter. The hawthorn in my garden has lost all it's leaves, but it now has dark red berries. Lovely.

Lovely, thought-provoking story, Jennifer. Well done.

Best

John

Findy at 08:26 on 25 November 2009  Report this post
Hi Jennifer

Lovely story, I really liked that your MC did not take the usual 'mope' way out of the situation but instead chose to 'love herself', and she gets her reward too ;

Missing word -

She can hear her children still arguing as they head down the path.


findy



tusker at 10:46 on 25 November 2009  Report this post
Thanks Charlotte for you kind comments.

Husbands and children tend to take Mums for granted. I suppose it's visa versa too.

Approaching and being in the midst of middle age is a time when a lot of women feel invisible to their own and the outside world.

Yours is a good example too of how much we dont' stop, listen and see as we carry on our busy daily rituals.

Jennifer

tusker at 10:52 on 25 November 2009  Report this post
Thanks John, glad you thought it thought provoking.

With this miserable weather, I tend to ignore what's going on beyond. Today though, when outside trying to tidy up, I dodged into the shed to shelter from a heavy downpour and watched a bluetit feeding off peanuts.

I was so close but it didn't see me. I noticed how flimsy those tiny, blueish legs were and how delicate its claws are as it was buffetted by the wind.

Jennifer

tusker at 10:54 on 25 November 2009  Report this post
Thanks Findy.

There's no good moping about, I suppose, but I'm sure she felt quite lonely at times.

Jennifer

M. Close at 04:29 on 27 November 2009  Report this post
Nice one Jen. Sometimes we take those around us for granted and they go invisible. Sometimes it seems we are the invisible ones. It is very important to stay engaged in relationships to keep them fresh and vibrant. Good to see her hubby still pays attention, and she is still glad he does.

I liked the way this story reminded us to pay attention.

Mike

tusker at 08:50 on 27 November 2009  Report this post
Thanks Mike. Yes, it's too easy to ignore and take for granted.

Jennifer


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