Chapter 13: A Hint of Guilt?
Ina had surveyed the block, her mind made up. She had her first target.
This was all just an experiment, she told herself. A simple, social experiment. When thinking about it that way it didn't seem so bad. It wasn't cheating, it was science. It wasn't home wrecking, it was sociology.
As she was turning into her driveway she saw the door to Jack's house open. Linda stepped out.
Linda, in her house coat and slippers, waddled down the driveway towards the morning paper.
What struck Ina at that moment wasn't what Linda was wearing though, it was what she was missing.
Her usual self-righteous scowl.
There, in the hazy morning sunlight, with one hand clutching her house coat closed, Linda looked like a sad woman, aged beyond her actual years.
Chapter 14: A Bit of Linda
Linda hurried back in side, the shock of the morning cold making her skin pucker with gooseflesh.
Jack was still upstairs, asleep.
He had been drunk last night. Jack! Drunk! Of all people.
He had tried to... He had tried to...
Linda couldn't even bring herself to think the word. Why should she? She had failed at it. She was childless. Her body was a waste land where nothing could grow.
All her life all she had wanted was a child, and when her and Jack had married she thought that she would finally get her wish. Then, well... Linda had never really been one to get her prayers and wishes answered.
A tear started to fall from the corner of her eye.
She shook her head, clutching her house coat a little tighter. It was best not to think of such things.
No comments:
Post a Comment