THE NEWS

Picture: Nicole Pyles

Words: letter, Velcro, planet, fever, shopping

Here are the rules of how this all works:

1) Use the photo and the 5 words provided in your story
2) Keep your word count 500 words or less.
3) You have until next Tuesday to link up your post.
4) Link up with your blog hostess (Nicole, Carrie, Tena or Leanne)

5) Have fun, don’t stress, let those creative juices flow.

THE NEWS

Maree picked up the letter opener by its ornate handle and quickly sliced the envelope open.  She scanned the contents holding in her excitement as she read each paragraph.  She placed a hand on the worktop to steady herself, she took a deep breath and reached for the phone.

Maree eventually got through to her husband and with a quavering voice that reached fever pitch told him she’d been accepted for the Yellow Submarine Challenge to be held in a month’s time.

Her husband whooped with delight, he said the news was out of this world; in fact it was so awesome it belonged on another planet.  He would take her on a trip out of town this weekend where they could plan everything that she would need to get.   He would take her on a shopping spree she would never forget.

Mark was going to tell everybody he knew and he would stay by her side and support her throughout the challenge.  In fact he would stick to her like a piece of Velcro, it wouldn’t be easy but together they would make sure she could finish the course.

Maree put the phone down, poured herself a cup of coffee and added some sugar to it, for the shock, she told herself.  Mark’s reaction wasn’t what she wanted.  She needed to do this on her own.  Yes, she was pleased at how supportive he was but he didn't allow the achievement to be hers and hers alone, he had to be involved. 

She knew Mark would be boasting about her prowess to anybody in the office who would listen, in fact she’d better check Facebook because she was sure he would have posted about it already.

Sure enough there it was congratulating her but somehow making it seem that he was the one who had engineered her success.   Somehow he was taking the credit for all her hard work, those long, long nights of studying while he was enjoying social evenings in the pub, playing billiards or darts or whatever else he was up to.

Maree actually wondered sometimes if he was always with his male friends, she could have sworn she heard female laughter in the background but of course that could just be other customers in the pub, yeah right, said a niggling little thought in the back of her head.

The red letter day dawned bright and clear, perfect weather for going to sea.  Mark was fussing around her, checking her bag, checking she had all the navigational aids she would need, even down to some actual cash in one of her pockets. 

Mark and Maree set off in plenty of time and arrived as other participants did.  Maree kissed Mark as she got out of the car.  She looked back for the last time at her controlling husband, felt the inside pocket of her jacket reassuring herself that her passport was still secreted within. 

Maree looked forward and knew she was never coming back.

Word count: 499