Martha (unfinished) (358 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 0.85 on 7 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by jack_of_hearts (View user info) at 2009-06-27 17:57:19 EDT
[[note: this is unfinished. the character came to me this morning while people watching at a mall. debating whether or not she's worth discovering more about. Any ideas?]]
As she looked down at her lawn three stories below, Martha wondered if the fall would be enough to kill her. Not that she had climbed up there to jump, she was just cleaning the gutters. Still, the thought crossed her mind and it bothered her. Martha didn't like it when things like that popped up. The ladder was propped up against the house and its invitation to ground level was hard to ignore.
Back inside her home, Martha went to the den to sit down. She sat in Edward's chair, an ornate, overstuffed ordeal procured from an antique dealer years ago. This felt wrong, however, and she instead moved to her usual perch on the beige love seat. There had been a coffee table in here at one point, and a Persian rug, too. But the answering machine held unreturned calls and missed payments; and when they started screaming Martha knew they needed their money.
A few months ago the idea of a job had crossed her mind. Edward, she felt, would not approve of this kind of talk. He was a very traditional man, absolute in his values. No, a woman's place was in the kitchen, he'd say. Martha smiled at this thought. To her, Edward didn't seem sexist, just responsible. He wanted to take care of everything for her. What was not to love?
Times like this were hard on Martha. The doctor had given her a little purple pill for that. She went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet, filling the plastic cup she kept by the sink halfway. When she was feeling particularly anxious there was a little blue pill she had. As she tilted the glass, musing about how she felt neither optimistic nor pessimistic, Martha swallowed her medicine.
"Give it just a few minutes now," she said to herself, returning to the den. The television that stood on the table across from her was more decoration than anything. The VCR had never liked her much anyway, Edward always figured out the things like that. As for the cable, she hadn't paid that bill in months, so all she got was a distorted version of the local news from the rabbit ears she had dug out of the attic.
A few months ago, Edward would have been sitting in the room with her, laughing at the T.V. set. Some sit-com would be on and he'd be there, probably holding a beer. Martha would be sitting quietly, knitting perhaps, but typically she just watched. Back then, she had understood what was happening on those shows, but ever since she started seeing her doctor she hadn't really been able to focus.
Shit. Her doctor. Her doctor had told her recently not to dwell on the past. She guessed he meant she shouldn't be thinking about things like this. Perturbed, Martha's lips scrunched into a frown. Everything else her doctor had said was a blur. Listening was a skill she had lost, or forgotten, Martha wasn't quite sure. The pills were the only reason she still tried, they made everything okay.
User Reviews
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-06-29 11:31:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
do something more with it before you offer it up, eh?
Submitted by Foolproof (user info) at 2009-06-28 18:28:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Negating dipshit below
Submitted by darthvaderswang (user info) at 2009-06-28 03:11:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by TuTs (user info) at 2009-06-28 01:28:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Lips don't frown.
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2009-06-28 00:37:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
A three story ladder?
I think not.
Submitted by w_t_a_y_s_t_r_m (user info) at 2009-06-27 19:23:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Well written, but not keen on it being only partial
Submitted by Ebenezer_Spooge (user info) at 2009-06-27 18:00:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment