Bruised but not broken....
(This is different than my normal blogging...a bit darker...and a short story. A snapshot into what could happen if this ever happened. Hope you enjoy it.)
She looks in the bathroom’s mirror and sees a stranger looking back at her. Less than 24 hours ago, the reflection would have seemed familiar, but the bruises on her arms make her unrecognizable in her own eyes. She instinctively reaches for the body lotion, a habit she picked up as middle-aged became a reality. As she rubs in the lotion, the lesser visible bruises are felt. Pain throbs up and down her arms as she completes her routine. Suddenly, the reality of the past 24-hours hits her and she turns toward the toilet and relieves herself of her light dinner.
Once again she turns toward the mirror but this time to get a drink to wash out the acidic taste. Anger overwhelms her…the pain in the arms are now coupled with the exhaustion of vomiting up what little she was able to eat for the day. With the anger welling up inside of her, she sees his face…hears his laughter as he broke destroyed her things, how he mocked her as he took her possessions. The she recalls how he laughed as she tried to keep her things from him, with him grabbing her arms from behind, trying to get her notes…her thoughts. Anger turns to fury and she punches the wall, screaming out in anger her undying hatred of him. Years of living in a lesser version of this world had left their mark, but never anything she had to see.
The energy of the moment passes, and once again she faces herself in the mirror. Tears blur her vision, but not enough to blur the view of the bruises. She sighs and is suddenly unbelievably tired. A moment flashes in her mind…the moment they married. The same arms that dipped her back the moment the judged pronounced them husband and wife constrained her. The same hands that caressed her in the beginning of the married now left marks on her arms. There is no desire to return to the beginning, as that road was travelled and she knew where it led. Only a need to be free from the constraints of the marriage.
Temptations to give up run high. It is easier to become passive than to fight for what is hers. But the temptation passes. She is bruised but not broken…
She looks in the bathroom’s mirror and sees a stranger looking back at her. Less than 24 hours ago, the reflection would have seemed familiar, but the bruises on her arms make her unrecognizable in her own eyes. She instinctively reaches for the body lotion, a habit she picked up as middle-aged became a reality. As she rubs in the lotion, the lesser visible bruises are felt. Pain throbs up and down her arms as she completes her routine. Suddenly, the reality of the past 24-hours hits her and she turns toward the toilet and relieves herself of her light dinner.
Once again she turns toward the mirror but this time to get a drink to wash out the acidic taste. Anger overwhelms her…the pain in the arms are now coupled with the exhaustion of vomiting up what little she was able to eat for the day. With the anger welling up inside of her, she sees his face…hears his laughter as he broke destroyed her things, how he mocked her as he took her possessions. The she recalls how he laughed as she tried to keep her things from him, with him grabbing her arms from behind, trying to get her notes…her thoughts. Anger turns to fury and she punches the wall, screaming out in anger her undying hatred of him. Years of living in a lesser version of this world had left their mark, but never anything she had to see.
The energy of the moment passes, and once again she faces herself in the mirror. Tears blur her vision, but not enough to blur the view of the bruises. She sighs and is suddenly unbelievably tired. A moment flashes in her mind…the moment they married. The same arms that dipped her back the moment the judged pronounced them husband and wife constrained her. The same hands that caressed her in the beginning of the married now left marks on her arms. There is no desire to return to the beginning, as that road was travelled and she knew where it led. Only a need to be free from the constraints of the marriage.
Temptations to give up run high. It is easier to become passive than to fight for what is hers. But the temptation passes. She is bruised but not broken…
Great start to another book? I certainly hope your not drawing from any experience, your too good a person to deserve such treatment.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could say it wasn't me...but that was. Monday..the day after the incident...that's what happened. It was a rough day. It wasn't a frontal assault, but he struggled to get my purse and computer away from me, and that's how it happened. He just isn't the same person I married 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI was blackmailed into removing this. Except...now the consideration has been removed. It's back.
ReplyDelete