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Together

by LMJT 

Posted: 26 April 2014
Word Count: 690
Summary: In response to the challenge I set to include mention of a cat/radio/jigsaw.


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Rose thanked the nurse, calmly hung up the phone and stood for a moment in her dressing gown, the fridge humming beside her.

Knowing she wouldn’t get back to sleep, she made a peppermint tea and picked up the portable radio from the windowsill beside the sink.

When she flicked on the light in the living room, Berger – her white cat who was curled up on the sofa – yawned, stretched and turned to face her.

On the coffee table in the middle of the room were scattered pieces of the jigsaw puzzle Rose had half-heartedly started a month ago in the hope that it would act as a distraction from all that was going on in her life.

Which, she realised now, looking at the few pieces she’d put together, was a lot to expect from a thousand pieces of card.  

The picture was a festive scene with Victorian children building a snowman outside of a traditional sweet shop and as she picked up the box to shuffle through the pieces, she heard Richard’s voice from behind her.

‘Rose? What are you doing up?’

She turned to see him squinting in the light, his arms folded across his chest.

She looked away, back at the puzzle.

‘The hospital called,’ she said.

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’

He sat beside her and his presence – the smell of sleep on his warm body – was at once comforting and crushing in its familiarity. Had this been yesterday, she’d have moved away, gone back in the kitchen, but the call had sapped her energy and she felt suddenly exhausted.

‘What’s happened?’ Richard asked.

‘Mum’s died,’ she said and the words sounded too loud. ‘Mum’s died,’ she said again, quietly.

‘I’m so sorry, Rose,’ Richard said.

‘The nurse said she passed away in her sleep. That she wasn’t in any pain at the end. So that’s something. I’m glad she didn’t suffer. Especially as there was no one there with her. I should have been there. I suppose I should call Caroline to let her know, but I can’t remember the time difference between here and the States. And maybe the hospital’s already called her. I don’t know if they make international calls. I should have been there. I-,’

Richard wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer than they’d been in months and Rose felt herself surrender. She felt warm tears flow down her face and her chest heave with sobs.

‘I’m sorry Rose,’ Richard said again. ‘I’m so sorry.’

Rose felt his hand on the side of her face, stroking her hair in the way her mother had done in her childhood.

She felt his arms around her as memories shifted in her mind, overlapping and replacing one another: herself as a toddler, crying over a grazed knee; as a teenager arguing with her mother about a curfew; at 21, introducing Richard to her parents over a ploughmans at The Red Lion; her mother’s happiness on Rose’s wedding day, watching her first daughter marry...

She sat up suddenly, releasing herself from Richard’s embrace.

‘I should go to sleep,’ she said, wiping tears from her face, her eyes puffy and tired.  
 

Upstairs, Rose got back into bed alone and closed her eyes, though she knew sleep wouldn’t come. She lay still for ten minutes, half an hour, an hour, then lifted back the duvet and got up.

She walked down the hallway to the spare room and pushed open the door to find Richard wide awake.

‘Come to bed, Richard’ she said.

Richard looked at her. ‘Are you sure that’s what you want?’

She shrugged. ‘I can’t be alone tonight.’
 

In bed, his Richard wrapped his arm around Rose’s waist, his hand resting on her stomach.

‘Is that okay?’ he asked.

Rose was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on the red digits of the alarm clock as a question circled in her mind: Did you ever hold her like this? Did you ever hold her like this?

And maybe she would ask sometime, but not tonight. Tonight she needed him here.

 ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes, that’s okay.’






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Comments by other Members



Cornelia at 19:34 on 26 April 2014  Report this post
A touching piece which slowly yields its meaning with a deal of compassion for the all-too-human characters. It's easy to put a foot wrong in such an understated story but you manage to sustain the mood throughout. I liked the 'middle-of-the-night melancholy feel. My only 'quibble', and it's a small one, is the naming of the cat. I know of a John Berger but I can't fugure out the connection. I think the cat helps  set the low-key domestic scene, as does the jig-saw - a good way to express the woman's need for distraction. Another, even smaller, quibble - I would miss the 'a' from in front of 'peppermint tea. 

I thought we had to include wine, not a cat. But I enjoyed this very much.

Sheila

 

LMJT at 21:30 on 26 April 2014  Report this post
Thanks Sheila! You're quite right, it was wine not a cat!

 

V`yonne at 23:31 on 26 April 2014  Report this post
This really has some emotional impact. I am not sure the title does it justice. 'Holding on' might be better? or 'Pieces Together'?

On the coffee table in the middle of the room were scattered pieces of the jigsaw puzzle Rose had half-heartedly started a month ago in the hope that it would act as a distraction from all that was going on in her life.

Which, she realised now, looking at the few pieces she’d put together, was a lot to expect from a thousand pieces of card.

Might be better expressed:
On the coffee table in the middle of the room were scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Rose had half-heartedly started it a month ago in the hope that it would act as a distraction from all that was going on in her life. Looking at the few pieces she’d put together, she realised now it was a lot to expect from a thousand pieces of card.

But I liked that thought! Nice.

TassieDevil at 07:36 on 27 April 2014  Report this post

Quite a moving piece that said so much in a few words.

the smell of sleep on his warm body

Interesting image that I found so touching. The reason for their apparent distance from one another was expressed very well too - no preaching, no verbal confrontation, no explanations. Simply

as a question circled in her mind: Did you ever hold her like this? Did you ever hold her like this?

Although the repetition wasn't necessary as you've already said it circled in her mind and I feel that once was all that you needed- more impact.

Emotive stuff.

Agree with Sheila about the cat naming and V'yonne's comment about the quoted paragraph being better expressed.

Alan



Dave Morehouse at 12:59 on 27 April 2014  Report this post
This is emotional and very human. You have some wonderful touches in this story which others have mentioned. "The smell of sleep on his warm body" simply knocked me over. (In a very good way.)

My only suggestion would be to search for the word "felt" in your story. It seemed as though I kept bumping up against that word in the middle paragraphs. Perhaps you wanted that repetition to drive home your MC's desperation. It was a minor distraction for me though. 

Descriptions of your MC's emotiona in this story are stunningly real. Simple things that most of us forget when we write. I think that is the strength of this human interest story.. Well done. Dave

Terry Edge at 19:28 on 27 April 2014  Report this post
I read all three of your pieces, mainly because they made me want to. You have a totally engaging and natural style. You're also excellent at using the every day, objects, small expressions, etc, to carry the emotion, rather than thumping the reader in the face with it.

I don't know what you intend to do with these pieces, but if you're aiming for publication say in Flash Fiction magazines, there are a couple of things to perhaps think about it.

One is tone. I wasn't sure with all three pieces if this was women's fiction, or something similar, or mainstream touching on literary. Apart from aiming more accurately at magazines, I think the reader is sometimes a little side-stepped by the not-quite-certain tone in places. I'm not suggesting you telegraph everything; but if say, you were aiming more for women's fiction, the reader would expect the ending to be up-beat, even sweet. If you're aiming more for literary/mainstream, the expectation would be for a more realistic, even downbeat, ending.

Second (and this still relates to tone a little), I found myself on the one hand marvelling at your skill but on the other wishing you'd push it a bit further. No need, if you're writing nice, commercial stuff. But if you want these stories to really resonate, you might want to think about pushing them one or two steps further, emotionally, than the reader might expect. It's similar to good US sitcom writing, where the writers don't settle for the first joke; they push for another and even a third. Only here, we're talking about emotional impact and the exploration of themes beyond what one might expect when just talking about them with a friend.

But this is really, really good writing. You have a real gift.

Terry













 

LMJT at 21:11 on 27 April 2014  Report this post
Thank you for your comments everyone.

Sheila, I know what you mean about the cat's name! Will revisit!

Oonah - You tidied up a clunky sentence for me! Thank you!

Dave - Yep, I definitely overused 'felt' in this piece. I wrote it in a rush and didn't have time to edit, so will think about this when I look over it again.

Terry - Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm just writing for myself and for practice at the moment, but your points are certainly food for thought. 

Thanks again all.

Liam

Prospero at 12:28 on 30 April 2014  Report this post
Hi Liam

Having read all the other comments I have nothing really useful to add other than if this is just practice I can't wait for the  real thing.

Best

John

LMJT at 22:09 on 06 May 2014  Report this post
Hi John,

Belated thanks for your comments. Really appreciated.

Liam


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