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San Diego Momma

Sharing some humor, a bit of writing and way too much information

Home / PROMPTuesdays / Never the Same Since

Never the Same Since

PROMPTuesdays

The spider entrenched on my patio door provided an apt metaphor. Its metallic legs dug into my screen, seemingly attempting a break-in. I watched its bulk from the corner of my eye as I dialed number after number into my boyfriend’s pager. I’d been collecting these phone numbers for months. Either I’d seen them appear on his pager as he furtively tried to hide the beep, or I memorized them from scraps on paper he’d left tucked into various nooks and crannies on his dresser.

 

I unraveled hard and quick that night. I imagined him calling these numbers, probably forgetting who they even belonged to, and getting one of the women on the line, their voices breathless and eager to hear from him again. Maybe they’d been a one-night stand, or perhaps it was a three-movie deal. He’d denied their existence for nearly a year, in late night conversations, bullying assertions and fervent admissions of love. But when I found the opal ring in his car, wrapped in a napkin with the words “Rachel” girlishly scrawled in ink, reality broke over me like a pail of rocks.

 

That night, he called just once. Maybe he suspected it was me pounding dozens of numbers into my phone’s keypad, bidding him to call the women he’d cheated on me with so often, so dismissively. I cried into the receiver, still watching that ugly spider twitch and click against the darkness. I denied it all of course, and begged him to come and save me from that spider. To save me from that spider.

 

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July 28, 2008 · 17 Comments

Sure I’d love to see you again

Previous Post: « The Line-Up
Next Post: PROMPTuesday #15: One Word Says It All »

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Comments

  1. Cheri @ Blog This Mom! says

    July 29, 2008 at 11:05 am

    I am breathless.

    My heart is beating hard.

    Like I’d indulged in a third cup of coffee.

    I would like another serving.

    Reply
  2. slouching mom says

    July 29, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    ooh. this is so dark and suspenseful. love it!

    Reply
  3. Chris says

    July 29, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Very, very nice! What a great exercise for the writer’s mind. I’ve got 3 little boys in the backyard with a hose. Maybe I’ll play next week…

    Reply
  4. matteroffactmommy says

    July 29, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    deception at its finest…

    Reply
  5. Steph says

    July 29, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    Brava!

    Reply
  6. tinsenpup says

    July 29, 2008 at 6:22 pm

    That’s very powerful. I love the spider.

    Reply
  7. Tanya Kyi says

    July 29, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    The spider’s metallic legs… even if you never expand the freewrite, you have to save that description.

    Reply
  8. Jennifer H says

    July 29, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    This is excellent. You have the seed of something here.

    Reply
  9. kate says

    July 29, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    you are totally brilliant.

    Reply
  10. kate says

    July 29, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    i was so mad at the rock for a minute. until i realized. helloooo? fiction? it’s me, kate.

    Reply
  11. Jenn @ Juggling Life says

    July 29, 2008 at 9:50 pm

    I’m with Kate.

    Reply
  12. Temple Stark says

    July 29, 2008 at 11:49 pm

    The little web being weaved, and unwoven. Seemed to short (while mine was 370 words – too long) This too could be the beginning of a thriller short story.

    Reply
  13. MommyTime says

    July 30, 2008 at 5:59 am

    Ouch. This is a great story. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

    Reply
  14. Momma Mary says

    July 30, 2008 at 9:05 am

    ooooooh… i liiiiiiike it!

    Reply
  15. Da Goddess says

    August 4, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    whatta bastard. Haven’t we all known men like that?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. VeryTas |-Reality Be Damned For Truth » PROMPTuesday 15 - Deception, Never Enough says:
    July 30, 2008 at 12:49 am

    […] Never The Same Since at San Diego Momma / Deb […]

    Reply
  2. San Diego Momma » Blog Archive » Kurt says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    […] He was the first I knew of romantic love. Those beginning hours and days, for that’s all it turned out to be in truth, imposed a gentle panic on my life. When would I see him again? Does he really love me? Is he coming back? I drank up every single saccharin word he blabbered, and they were bedazzling doozies. Once, early on, I listened with pressed ear as he called from out of town to longingly report that his trip was “heaven,” but one “angel was missing.” And I just blithely gripped the phone in a swoon, ignoring the foreshadowed irony. Angel, indeed. […]

    Reply

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