Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Drip (04/25/13)
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TITLE: An Evening With Jake and Lucy | Previous Challenge Entry
By Genia Gilbert
05/01/13 -
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“Jacob Worley, take off those shoes. I have worked all day cleaning floors, and don’t want to have to start over.”
Heh, heh, I beat her to the punch that time, He chuckled within himself. Never mind whatever happened to “Hello, Dear, How was your day?” Jake fumed, but he didn’t really expect that anymore.
As Lucy emerged from the kitchen, he noted that her eyes didn’t meet his at all, but went directly to his sock-clad feet.
“Hi, Honey, how are you feeling?” was Jake’s forced greeting. He’d try to remember what Pastor John had told him. Lucy was going through a slump of sorts, he’d assured Jake, and he just needed to be patient. He had an urge to tell Pastor John the slump had lasted for years already.
“Not feeling well at all, but it’s all the work I have to do around here,” Lucy stated. “Dinner will be a little late; the roast is taking longer than I planned – tough piece of meat. I swear I won’t buy anymore groceries from Franklin’s!”
“I’m sure it will be fine, Lucy,” Jake consoled her. He was getting annoyed in spite of himself. He reckoned that she was about to run out of places to shop by now, as there was something wrong with most all of them.
He was careful to say grace over the meal, which was actually quite good, and to compliment her afterwards. He stopped short of helping with the dishes, though, since he “never got them in the dishwasher right.”
Tired,and ready to relax in front of the TV, he surfed the channels for a movie that both of them might enjoy.
“No, Jake. I need you to help me rearrange the den furniture. You have been promising to do that for months, and you never do. My goodness, if it were left up to you, nothing would ever get done around here. A house has to have upkeep, you know.”
Frustrated, Jake groaned, wondering how moving furniture around related to upkeep. No matter, might as well get it over. He muttered under his breath, “Where is Pastor John at times like this, I’d like to know?”
As Jake huffed and puffed from trying the sofa in three different locations, Lucy started again, this time on her favorite subject.
“By the way, your mother called again today. She invited us to Sunday lunch. I don’t know why she always waits until the last minute. I like to make plans ahead of time. I don’t have anything on hand to make a dessert, and she’ll expect me to bring one.”
“Lucy,” Jake exploded, “This is only Thursday. Besides, Mom doesn’t expect you to bring a dessert; you insist on it.”
Lucy gave him that long, unbelieving look and replied, “You always take her side.”
All Jake’s good intentions and resolve dissipated. He had slipped from annoyance to frustration, to dogged endurance, and now a sense of near-madness. He told Lucy he was taking a walk, slamming the door as he stepped outside.
At the end of the front sidewalk, he hesitated. Still sweaty from the furniture-moving, he felt a chill from the cool evening air.
He considered walking toward the coffee shop, maybe hooking up with some friends. Then, as always, he turned around and started back inside. He’d call Pastor John first thing in the morning. He would ask him how long this slump might last.
“Besides…” he laughed quietly, looking down. He was still in his socks.
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Note:
Proverbs 19:13b (NIV) reads, “… And a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.”
If you reread this little bit of humor, you might hear the drip, drip, drip.
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