ABIDING LOVE

SPECIAL GUIDELINES FOR THIS CHALLENGE AS FOLLOWS:

This prompt is about long-term love; perhaps suffering a mid-life or 7 year itch crisis. The couple recognizes it is time for a change; but how drastic does the change need to be to rekindle the relationship?  Who wants the change; husband, wife, mutual?  Who would suffer the most from either a break up, or from the status quo?

For older lovers:  perhaps this is the retirement of one or both, or one is suffering a physical or mental health change.

For mid-life lovers:  perhaps this could be an empty nest syndrome, or a male mid-life crisis, or female menopause.

For younger lovers:  perhaps there is an unexpected pregnancy to upset the balance; or a career change –promotion or firing or company move; or the sheer boredom of routine.

What we want to see is when the romance loses it shine, and the eye wanders, but what our disgruntled lover finds so appealing in another is the qualities that the old flame has lost.  Does he/she realize this on their own?  Or does the jilted lover or new love point it out?  How is the situation resolved?  Or is it too late?

This is a special challenge, so it has special guidelines:

To be in the judging for Featured Writer, you must be a member (sign up on the thumbnail linky) and follow these guidelines:

• Word limit is 600 words
• Any POV - first, second, third person
• Prose/prosetry
• Judging will be based on the FIRST WRITING ONLY; meaning, if  you edit or revise based on initial feedback, the re-write will be disqualified. Only the original will be entered into the competition.  Once the link is up, it is the final submission version. It is fine to improve your piece for publication elsewhere, but for judging for FW just leave your original post up.

Abiding Love

In England there were celebrations at the end of the war

The physical fighting had ceased but now they had to repair

The ravages that had been wrought but people still had to take care

Families reunited, men returned, some broken, some full of despair.

They returned to family life, husband and wife and their two girls

She was the youngest, prettiest, a spoilt princess with long dark curls

A few years later the girls start dating boys, teenagers having fun

The beginning of that new music, rock and roll and dance action

The decade of 1950 everyone began looking forward to the future

Romantic films, glamorous actresses, dreamy heroes were the answer

So couples paired up and after a time, boy and girl became man and woman

He wasn’t quite so sure but she persuaded him because she was very, very certain.

Before she was 21 she thought she’d found love, she’d found just the one

The man of her dreams, she thought she would keep him forever and a day

Tall, dark and handsome, such a beautiful couple they made, a day to be proud

They posed at the church door, wedding bouquet and button holes displayed

Two years later came their first baby, a beautiful boy they produced

Times were tough but as a family they scrimped and endured

Adding to their family their second son came along three years later

She did so desperately want what her sister had and have a pretty daughter

Things were getting rough, money was so very tight

They fought and fought and argued for days and nights

To save their marriage another child would cement their fidelity

A pretty daddy’s girl he took unto his heart and loved her dearly

The years took their toll, family responsibilities grew and grew

The young, carefree days were things of the past and lost to view

He started to flirt, to feel his ego boosted, he was still a young man

There was no premeditation but the divorce proceedings began.

The shock and scandal hit the village but the gossips always said

She was too pretty for her own good and things would go bad

She picked herself up, dusted herself off, she found another chap,

Single and wealthy he took her and the children and fell in to her trap

Perhaps their union contained less passion on her part than compared to before

Compensated by money in the bank and a big house but he wasn’t her saviour

They had their own daughter but the differences were too great, violence ensued

She left, single with a child still at home, a divorcee but not subdued

Her first love was always there, they remained deep friends

Three children together meant that on each other they could always depend

They both remarried, she went to his second wedding which ended amicably

After his third wife’s loss she helped him as he mourned his loss deeply

They were now alone without their partners still bound by their first love

Living near each other, spending days together, enjoying their grandchildren

He was still the charmer, still the aged Casanova with a pension

Along came the diagnosis, shattering all who knew him

Only months to live although he fought with all his might

He lost his struggle one wet and rainy night

She misses him more than anyone can know

He was her eternal love, her beau

She carries on from day to day

How can you regret abiding love she says?

They couldn’t live together forever

She doesn’t think the grass was actually greener.

Word Count: 600