he finds a pair of socks under the bed... they arent his, and she doesnt want him to find them... perhaps a second part to my story "Our Bedroom"...
There are a pair of blue socks under the bed. He finds them while trying to lure the dog out from under there. He's sitting on the bed looking at the blue socks, that are folded in half and rolled over, just the way his girlfriend does them. When she walks in, under the pillow they go.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes," he replies "But is the dog?" he stands up off the bed, throwing his hands up in frustration. This dog has always hated him.
She glances at his display, rolls her eyes, and kneels to see if the dog will come out from under the bed for her.
He glances at the pillow where the socks are hiding then kneels down next to her.
She sees the dog, nestled in the pile of ‘toys’ he keeps under the bed. She notices that the socks aren't there.
"Here boy... come here... I’ve got a new toy for you... go put these away"
It was easy to get rid of every trace of her husband. But those damn socks. She was in love with those socks. She wore them to bed on the cold nights when nothing would warm her. And they were very obviously not a pair of socks that she would buy for her self. They were men's work socks, blue with gray stripes on the top. They weren't necessarily her husband's favorite socks, but he always hated it when she wore them. He used to say that she should go out and buy her own pair. They weren't something that her boyfriend would wear either, working in an office and all.
Everything that went with her husband, or to the both of them, went up in smoke just a few months ago. The house became empty of all the things that showed a relationship with a man. Everything but his dog, Tootsie, and the damned blue socks.
She didn't want Neil to find them that's why she had given them to Tootsie. Everything that he got his jaws on became his, and disappeared into the black hole under their, her bed. She wondered what would happen if Neil found the socks, what would he suspect?
As they were leaving the room, dog in hand, he pulled the socks out from under the pillow and stuffed them in his pocket. He intended to confront her about them eventually.
'If she is cheating on me,' he thought 'I don't know what I'm going to do'
It was raining. He grabbed his coat off the hook and searched in the closet for his umbrella, “Great day for a birthday party,” he thought sarcastically. But that’s not really what was on his mind.
The pressure of the socks against his waist in his jacket pocket reminded him of the confrontation to come.
But what would he say?
The rain made her feet ache. Ever since she was little when she broke her ankles in a roller skating accident, her feet ached when it rained. She didn’t want to go to the party. She wanted to just stay home and watch TV with Neil, an easy Saturday at home. That is what she was thinking about when he grabbed her arm before she left the house.
“What are these?” he asked, pulling the socks from his pocket.
She looked at them dumb founded. She knew she’d been caught, what could she say?
“A gag gift, my sister gave me them one year for Christmas. Just a silly thing,” she said sputtering the words into the air the way a kinked hose tosses water to the sky.
“Really? Then why were they under the bed?” he didn’t believe her for an instant, the jumpiness of her voice told him she was lying.
“Tootsie must have stolen them from the laundry basket,” she laughed trying to make it an easy laugh, but it came out choked.
“Really?” he asked still doubting everything she had said.
“Yes, really,” she promised. Somehow, though, she knew that she hadn’t convinced him.
“Ah shit,” she thought as he glared into her eyes, “Now I have to kill him too.”
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Reviewed by Naoko
8/3/2003
I find myself slightly confused at the end, but otherwise, the story is really great. I like the way you used your description, Sara, and it really surpasses expectations. Usually you can't imagine how a character feels, but with your descriptions, you're right in their shoes. Keep it up. :)
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