© Claire Sheldon
I never understood her side of the desk we share. My side looks like a cyclone blew through the room. Papers, DVD cases, and coffee cups scattered everywhere. I’m always losing pens.
She’s so precise, so neat, except she’s a little careless with the stuffed animals our grandson gives her so she’ll be safe.
When she’s home, she drives me crazy, but after she’s gone a day or so, I find that I miss her. I like to think solitude doesn’t bother me, but in the end, I get lonely.
Come home soon, dearest. Please drive me crazy again.
Written for Rochelle Wisoff Fields’ Friday Fictioneers writing challenge. The idea is to use the photo above as a prompt to write a piece of flash fiction no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 99.
This is an apt description of the desk my wife and I share in our den and how I feel when she goes on a trip.
To read more stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.
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wow! That’s such an immensely sweet letter. I hope she receives it soon.
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Thanks, Moon.
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I’m that way with my wife as well. Oscar and Felix.
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Yeah, it’s amazing we’ve been married for 35 years.
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Lovely little insight James.
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Thanks, Iain.
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I think I see myself here… great description.
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Thanks, Björn.
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I can so relate to this!
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So can I. 😉
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The first thought that came to my mind was that this was no fiction. And I was real glad to learn that at the end. This is beautiful, James. Cheers, Varad
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Well, it’s fact-based fiction, Varad. My wife doesn’t really keep stuffed animals on her desk. More like on her nightstand, since our grandson is trying to offer my wife what he experiences from sleeping with his stuffed animals.
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That is a super clever idea. I hope it works for him.
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Not sure Alicia, but I think you meant to make this comment on some other blog post.
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Was the tense in the first sentence deliberately chosen to create a sense of impending trouble which was then immediately relieved by the remainder of the description?
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Actually, as I started writing, I was still considering this fellow having lost his wife, but as I continued to compose, I decided on a softer ending.
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That was totally me and Mick – only he’s the one who drove me crazy with his neatness! What I wouldn’t give to hear him complaining about the mess now…
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Yeah. When you miss someone, you even miss when they make you nuts.
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Sometimes it’s what you actually miss the most!
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Yes, that was how it it sounded…still, an interesting way to pique the interest yet move to a gentler idea.
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Dear James,
This is just incredibly sweet. The last line says a lot about the relationship. Wonderfully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, Rochelle.
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He may be a mess, but I think he’s a really good guy 🙂
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Thanks.
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This is a very heartfelt tale. So nice to have a happy ending.
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I agree. Thanks, Alicia.
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What a beautiful little love letter to your wife. Being home alone is great for a time, but we all get lonely at some point. ☺️
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Awe so sweet. They say opposites attract.
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Well, sort of. We had to have had something in common to be married all these years.
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Us too.
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Awww, your wife sounds very lucky to have you 🙂 A lovely story!
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Well, we have our moments.
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it seems like an ideal relationship to me. 🙂
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If you’ve ever been married, you know there’s no such thing as ideal.
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Neat, neat, neat, James! Something nice to read and enjoy! Thanks!
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Thanks.
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Your grandson sounds sweet, as usual. The little ones make everything worthwhile.
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Agreed, Marleen.
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True life story as far as I’m concerned.
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Thanks, Patrick.
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They sound as though they are well suited to each other.
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Like my uncle once said Sandra, the magic comes and goes.
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Well captured, know the feeling. Absence makes the head saner, but most of us would rather chose to be crazy in love. Bravo.
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Thanks, David.
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So sweet. I hope she comes home soon. I hope she’s not dead, is she?
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No. I wrote this with my wife in mind. She periodically goes on trips, typically to visit our daughter in California. She’s gone less than a week most times.
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Oh, thank God. I guess when she returns the reunion will be sweeter after the brief parting 🙂
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Oh she’s home, though I think she’ll be leaving to visit my Mom in a couple of weeks.
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Summed up my weekend here. I was so happy to send Hubs off for the weekend “respite care” for me. But, yet, I worried and fretted so the whole time he was gone that it wasn’t restful at all. You captured that feeing well with your story. 🙂
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Thanks. Actually for the first few days the missus is gone, I’m usually okay, just as long as she phones or texts me that she arrived safely.
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The line “the stuffed animals our grandson gives her so she’ll be safe” is very sweet 🙂
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Yes it is.
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder or so they say! Nice one.
Please click to read my FriFic
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Thanks, Keith.
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Opposites attract….and complement each other. Sweet story
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Thank you, Susan.
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So, you know my wife. 🙂
She’s gone on a 4-day camping trip with the Sisters of the Fly.
I do enjoy getting the extra time to write, but it’s only day 2 and I’m starting to miss her.
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I see you know me as well.
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You will miss the person only after he/she is away. Till then their OCD or fetish for neatness drives one up the wall.
http://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/07/thank-you-claire-sheldon-for.html?m=1
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Well, it’s not OCD or a fetish or I’d have driven her nuts a long time ago. She just likes things more picked up than I do. Believe me, her standards have become more relaxed over the years, especially after we had kids.
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awww I REALLY like that, it’s totally me. Do you mind if I share it!?
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Not at all. Please do.
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Good slice of life. This didn’t sound like fiction but real life for most couples. They either give & take and blend to make a working unit or they polarize to make another divorce suit.
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Good fiction will seem like its real if done right, Christine. Of course the fact that it’s based largely on my life helps.
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This is so sweet. What a lucky woman she is!
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Thanks, Amie.
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Loved ones…always ones we miss. Well done!
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Thank you, Miles.
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Can’t live with her and can’t live without her? Well done. I think we all have a bit of that in our lives.
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Too true, Sascha. Thanks.
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What a lovely romantic letter, James. Good writing 🙂 — Suzanne
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Thank you, Suzanne.
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Lovely and evocative of a happy marriage – even what drives you crazy doesn’t dull the love.
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Thanks, Elizabeth.
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Would you check out https://tanyatale.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/the-bride-in-the-lake/
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Hi Tanya. You’re comment ended up in my spam bucket because it’s worded just like spam. Since your link leads to a legitimate blog, I “unspammed” you. I’ll have a look when I get a moment. Thanks.
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