PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
Many thanks to Rochelle as always for hosting the Friday Fictioneers.
Don Quixote and the Goddess
He wonders why icicles drape from me.
He stopped, eyes widening, mouth hanging open. Drool? Maybe. Him, a fifty-year-old, gaping at the blonde, golden-tanned goddess who rolled her eyes, averted her face, and stabbed her cell.
I danced at the wedding reception while his gaze searched for the goddess.
“What’s with you,” he asks as I shrug into my dowdiest nightie.
“You gaped.”
“But she was so beautiful,” he says. “I’ve never seen anyone like her in real life.”
Honest words to wound my heart. I glare at him.
His shoulders slump.
I almost feel sorry for him. Aging sucks.
end 12/6/2017
Sascha Darlington
Awwwe. But the good thing is that they are so honest with each other even after so many years of marriage 🙂
Probably both the good and the bad thing. Thank you! 🙂
:Lovely writing
thank you so much, Neil!
Aging sucks – so does his attitude to her!
I think he might be self-involved. 🙂
This was so true to life. We’re all probably guilty of at least sneaking a glance at beautiful younger people – but his honesty was rather cruel towards his wife. Well observed.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Yes. It’s true. We all look. The funny thing is as we get older, the younger people (at least for me) get older too. 🙂
Thanks for reading!
The man doesn’t only have an aging problem, he needs to address his diplomatic skills too.
Good point!
Thanks, Sandra!
Dear Sascha,
What is it with men? So many of them seem unaware of their own aging…they want a goddess? Try acting like a god. 😉 Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Oooh, love that comment! 🙂
Thanks, Rochelle!
Love that title – tilting at goddess shaped windmills, eh? Daft old fool. He needs to look at the lovely woman who shares his bed. None of us like to age, but there’s no point pining over something that’s lost and gone for good. Great tale Sascha
Thank you, Lynn. I think sometimes people forget that beauty can be skin deep and not deeper.
So often the case. Scratch beneath the surface and there’s ugliness beneath
It would be ideal if personalities were appreciated as much as beauty. 🙂
Sadly, it shows how shallow we are as a race, that this is not so.
Aging is unpleasant only if you have unrealistic expectations. I look at the lines in Terry’s face and see a lifetime of hard work, love, and laughter. And he tells me I’m more beautiful to him with every passing year. What’s not to love ? 🙂
Lovely, Linda, lovely, lovely, lovely! That’s the way to do it (aging, I mean!)
Thank, Penny. Of course aging brings its own set of problems, but you can still have joy!
I love this comment, Linda. I think that’s why you have an enduring relationship–much respect as well as love.
Thanks!
If you are going to gawk, do it surreptitiously. Men can be so clueless sometimes… age is not a factor! They can ALL be jerks!
Ahh, a whole new subject for the movie Clueless. 🙂
Thanks, Courtney!
Aging especially sucks when you are with someone who keeps reminding you that you are “lacking”
That is never a good thing, is it?
Thanks, Dale!
Nope! 😁
Been there, done that …..once too often! I’m single again now!
Click to read my FriFic!
Ooops. 🙂
Thanks for reading, Keith.
Great title! Arresting first sentence. Really fluent and believable dialogue. Good writing altogether -I enjoyed that story rather a lot!
thank you so much, Penny!
Well written and well expressed ideas, Sascha, and as a part-time male, I probably shouldn’t buy in, but what the heck. 😃 I have two questions. Firstly, is there another skilful use for fantasy in a relationship? I think there is. Secondly, in general terms (not continuous gawking) is it better that your partner notices others or not? (I’m not specifying genders.)
I’m taking your first question as rhetorical, although if cornered I might provide an answer.
Your second is interesting and feels a little like we’re playing devil’s advocate.
I’m pretty sure that we all look at the menu even when we’re on a diet. It’s a part of life. What we do with that menu is up to us and I think says a lot about us as individuals regarding the types of relationships we want with other people and how we would like to be treated in return.
I have spent time with gawkers who are horndogs and seem to be constantly looking for something better. And I have spent time with men who treat me as if I add something unique and wonderful to that moment in their lives even when there are younger, more sparkly women around.
Frankly I think a lot of men don’t want relationships with intelligent women. I can’t even imagine attaching a percentage to it. They want young and shiny and frequently dumber than them. They don’t mind have more interesting conversations elsewhere. I have never hung out with these guys and can’t even imagine a day when that would change.
Maybe it’s a part of evolution.
My story was fictional, btw, with some added observed truths. 🙂
So, what do you think?
Well, this is disappointing, I can’t argue
because I pretty much agree. I did take a guess at what “horndogs” means but pretty sure I got it. 😃
I wouldn’t say devil’s advocate, ie, taking the opposite point of view, more I think there are complexities and grey areas. Although, you know, living with the wood ducks I’m only guessing.
I do love Art Garfunkel’s “I only have eyes for you,” but for me it’s kind of extreme infatuation which is not necessarily long term. The wood ducks have advised me to steer clear of further comments on fantasy (no idea why 😃) but they did want me to mention flirting with another just to spice up a relationship with a little jealousy. It’s a cliché but it does happen (the ducks told me). I guess I’m just adding that humans are complicated er… except maybe hornpuppies (?) and I don’t favor too much simplifying. 😃
lol Should I apologize for you agreeing?
I like “I Only Have Eyes for You,” but it predates Garfunkel’s version by about 40 years, written in the 30’s when love was romanticized and idealized in song. (Gotta love some of those swoon-worthy songs from the 30s and 40s.) Yes, I imagine it fits well with the beginnings of a relationship, when hormones are roiling and a person thinks they’ve found “the one.”
I agree. I live for the gray areas. I try not to think in black and white terms–you know, except for things like murder. If I talk black and white on a topic always feel free to call me on it.
Flirting is fun, however, I’m not sure that I agree that it should be used in order to add jealousy. If you’re in a good relationship, why do you need jealousy? If it’s to add missing passion, hopefully there are other ways, more creative ways, that are perhaps less detrimental to trust, than flirting for jealousy? This is probably where the topic the wood ducks have advised you to comment no further upon would come up.
And because I’ve found this lovely soapbox which is quite comfortable to stand upon, what about the person an individual flirts with in order to make someone else jealous? Are they aware they’re being used and no one is really interested in them? (I’m not called a bleeding heart for no reason, btw.) 🙂 Flirting is acceptable for the singleton, not so much for the one who’s not supposed to be on the market. I think it can be divisive when perhaps one should be striving for harmony. Boring maybe but also a little less dysfunctional.
I think this back and forth dialogue could become a story. 😀
Yes, it all makes sense. I prefer you don’t apologize for making sense (twice) otherwise I might have to start apologizing for not making sense, which is more my specialty.
It’s an area where quite a bit of off-stage acting goes on, and perhaps the “audience” is aware and perhaps not, and I agree it can be unhelpful or worse.
Feel free to storify, 😁 I write occasional intimate (wood duck approved word) scenes in my short fiction (not at inconstantlight, which I try to keep “G”). There’s quite a bit of writing advice out there, and perhaps it’s hard to avoid cliché. I’ve noticed that, of my favorite fantasy/scifi writers, some handle it very well, while others either come up with a cardboard result or avoid sex scenes altogether (now the wood ducks are complaining).
Indeed… and a man gaping over young women is really pathetic…
Thanks for reading, Bjorn.
She’s probably used to him by now as I bet he’s always been that way. That doesn’t stop it from hurting, though. Good writing, Sascha. —- Suzanne
I think you hit the nail on the head, Suzanne. Even if you grow used to a behavior that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt.