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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Family & Friends
- Subject: Relationships
- Published: 03/04/2019
Leisureville
Born 1944, F, from Melbourne, FL, United StatesLeisureville
by
Valerie Allen
“Halley, I don’t believe it! You spoil David and then complain,” Janet said impatiently.
Halley rotated her chair away from her desk and stared out the window with a full view of the bank lobby.
“Stop giving in to him on everything. You're his wife, not his slave,” Janet said.
Halley moved the phone a few inches from her ear. “You don’t need to shout.” She brought the phone back to the side of her face. “You know, if you weren’t my best friend, I’d hang up.”
“Only a best friend would tell you things like this,“ Janet said. “I’m not shouting. I really like David, but you’re allowing him to walk all over you.”
“He doesn’t walk all over me. He’s a good man; he works hard.”
“I agree. That’s my point, he's a man with at least three live brain cells. He can do things for himself—and for you.”
“He does do things.”
“Like what?” Janet asked. “You fix every meal, you do the yard work, you clean the house, and in case you forgot—you also have a job and work hard.”
“I know. I know, but it’s easier for me to just get things done than listen to his excuses for not getting them done.”
“See what I mean? You give in. He’s got you meeting his every need.”
Halley took a deep breath. “We’ve been married six years; so far, so good.”
“Hey, I’m not saying, ‘get rid of him now and avoid the rush,’ or anything like that. I’m just saying why not have him fix you breakfast one morning?”
Halley laughed. “If I want bitter coffee, soggy cereal, and burnt toast, that would be great.”
“There you go again, making excuses for him. He’s got you well trained and you’re teaching him to be helpless. You may not see it as a problem now, but one day you’ll regret it.”
“Janet, I’d love to hear more of your preaching, but my dad’s trying to reach me on the other line. I’ll give you a call later.”
Halley clicked the phone button twice, hung up on Janet and picked up her father’s call. “Hi, Dad, what’s up?”
“Halley,” he said weakly, hardly able to say her name.
She sat up straight, alarmed at the tone of his voice. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“It's your mother. Your mother’s gone.”
“Gone?” She swallowed hard. “What do you mean gone?”
His voice cracked. “She’s left us, Halley.”
“Dad, what are you talking about? Where are you?”
“I’m at the house.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes. I’m all alone. Your mother’s not with me any longer.”
Halley spun her chair around to her desk and moved toward her computer. Hands shaking, she typed in Airfares Florida. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. “Dad what happened?”
“It was the cats.”
Halley blinked at the computer screen and stopped typing. “The cats?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what she said, “I can’t take these cats anymore.”
Halley sat back in her chair. “When did she say that?” she demanded.
“Five days ago.”
Halley frowned. “Five days ago?” she asked, her voice rising.
“Yes. She had a hissy fit and started yelling and crying, and then she left.”
Annoyance mixed with relief, she asked, “Dad, where’s Mom now?”
“She’s with your Aunt Rachel.”
Halley let out a deep breath and felt the tension leave her chest. “She went to North Carolina?”
“Yes. She’s gone. She left. She’s not coming back.”
Exasperated, Halley slapped her hand to her forehead. “Dad, she’ll be back.”
“No. Aunt Rachel said, ‘No. She’s not coming back.’ Aunt Rachel said your mother doesn’t want to talk to me. Your mother doesn’t want to see me ever again.”
“Dad, you and Mom go through this all the time. It will blow over.”
“No. Not this time. I don’t think so,” his voice gruff. “What am I going to do?” He was on the verge of crying. “Ever since I retired, your mother has been acting strange.”
“Well, Dad, it takes time to adjust. You’ve been married more than 40 years. You’ve always worked and Mom always ran the house.”
He cleared his throat, his voice gaining strength as he spoke. “Yes, and you’d think she’d be happy, now that we have time together. Wasn’t that our plan? That’s all she ever talked about—spending more time together. We were going to travel.” He sighed. “Now she has what she wants and she’s not happy. She says me and the cats are making her crazy.”
“Dad, I think she was just out of sorts.”
He lowered his voice. “No, Halley, your mother’s 'out of sorts days' have been over for a long time." He whispered, “Don’t ever say I told you.”
Halley tried not to laugh. “Dad, I don’t mean that. I mean, maybe she had a lot to deal with that day and took it out on you.”
“I do everything she wants. She makes a list every day and I check it off. I show it to her, but is she happy? No. What does she do? She adds something else to the list.”
“She’s trying to keep you busy, Dad.”
“I am busy. I try to be helpful. I wanted to make it easy for her to find things in the pantry. I put all the cans and soups on one shelf, and boxes of pasta and rice together near the cereal.” He took a deep breath. “I fixed it up real nice, but your mother wasn’t happy. No. She yelled at me. She said I should go straighten out the garage if I wanted to be helpful.”
“That was a good idea. Did you do it?”
“Of course. I’m always doing what your mother tells me to do. I feel like my old drill instructor has landed in the living room.”
“Dad, it’s not that bad.”
“Oh, yes it is. I cleaned out the garage and got rid of a bunch of old junk, but all she did was complain.”
“What kind of junk?” Halley asked.
“I found this big box on a bottom shelf. It was way too heavy for your mother to lift. Nothing in it, but some old rags, too small to do anything with, so I threw it away.”
“Dad! You didn't!”
“What? What did she want with a box full of old cloth scraps?”
Halley rolled her eyes. “Dad, Mom is in a quilting club.”
“Quilting club? If she wants a quilt, we can afford to buy one. Who needs a quilt in Florida?”
Halley leaned forward, elbows on her desk, phone to her ear. “Dad, you shouldn’t touch her things.”
“I even bought a bunch of those little clear boxes and organized all of your mother’s craft things. How could she know what she's got? She has so many paint brushes, buttons, and old greeting cards—what a mess!”
“Dad, leave Mom’s things alone. Why didn’t you clean out your own stuff from the garage?”
“My things are neat and organized. I know where everything is,” he said, his voice going up an octave. “Listen, I spent 33 years with a company that depended on me. They just had to ask and I’d put my hand right on whatever they needed. No one had to wait around for me to find anything—no going through a hundred boxes to find what was needed. I knew where everything was and got it to them pronto!” He spoke in a rush of words.
“Dad, I know you loved your job. Maybe you should think about working again. You could get a part-time job and still play golf and travel.”
“Halley, you’re starting to sound like your mother. What? Am I supposed to get some minimum wage job and answer to some kid, younger than my bedroom slippers? No.”
“Have you thought about volunteering? You have a lot of skills others could use.”
“Please! What, do you think I should work until I die—and for free yet?”
Halley closed her eyes. She felt a small throbbing at the back of her neck. She blinked her eyes open. “I just think if you had somewhere to go and something to do each day, you’d feel better.”
“I feel just fine. I’m in good health.”
“Dad, you shouldn’t stay in the house all the time.”
“I go outside. I even helped your mother take care of her garden. She’s got so many plants in there, and all those weeds; way too much to take care of. I nearly killed myself in this Florida heat thinning out all that growth. Did she say, thank you? No. Do you know what she did? She started to cry. That’s the thanks I get from her.”
“Dad, I don’t think you understand. You need to make yourself useful.”
“I am useful. Who takes care of these cats? I feed them, clean the litter box, check for fleas. Who do you think does all of that?”
“Mom’s done it for years. She loves taking care of the cats. They're like her babies.”
“Well, you couldn’t tell from the way she treats them. She's always pushing them off the furniture. She won't even let them in our bed at night.”
Halley dragged her hand down the side of her face. “Dad, she takes good care of them.”
“Well, you better call her. Tell her to come home. What am I supposed to do? I’m out of food. My clothes are piling up; they need to be washed. What do I know about hot, warm, cold; superwash, regular fill, small load? I took a bunch of shirts to the dry cleaners. They asked me all these questions; do I want rush or normal service? Do I want starch: heavy or light? I don’t have time for this kind of stuff; all these foolish decisions every day.”
“Dad, sometimes things change when people retire.”
“All I know is, I did my job all these years, and now I’m retired. Your mother needs to do her job, she’s still on the clock. Call her.”
Halley shook her head and took a deep breath. “Okay, Dad, I’ll call her.”
* * * *
“Hey, Halley,” David said, his voice cheerful on the phone. “You're home already?”
She smiled at the sound of his voice. “Yep, I left work early. I had a long, hard day.” She was stretched on the sofa, feet propped on pillows. Both hands hugged a tall glass of iced tea, the phone tucked between her neck and shoulder.
“Me too. I’m on my way home. What’s for dinner?”
“I didn’t fix anything yet. I'm too exhausted.” She rubbed the back of her neck, pushing her fingers deep into the flesh. “I spent my free time today refereeing my parents.”
“Oh boy, that again. What was it this time?”
“Mom’s fed up. She went to North Carolina to stay with Aunt Rachel. Dad’s making her crazy, but he’s lost without her. He really needs to get out of the house and do something.”
“Retirement can be a killer,” David laughed. “What’s he doing now?”
“He’s trying to ‘help’ Mom around the house.”
David took a deep breath. “Not good. You’re right, he needs to go do his own thing.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Did he get it?”
She sighed. “Not at all. He is so in the dark ages.”
David laughed. “Some men are like that, they say.”
“Right,” Halley said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Why don’t you go out and pick up something for tonight, so you don’t have to cook? I’m kind of in the mood for Chinese. How does that sound?”
Halley closed her eyes and thought for a moment.
“Halley? Are you there?”
“Yes. I was just thinking.”
“If you don’t want Chinese, you can get something else.”
“I’m sure I could, but Chinese is okay.”
“Great. I’ll be home in about half an hour. Love you.”
She didn’t respond.
“Halley, are you okay?”
“I’m okay, but I have a better idea,” she said slowly.
“What's that?” David asked.
“How about you stop and pick up the Chinese food and be home in 45 minutes instead?”
# # #
Thank you for taking the time to read
Leisureville
If you enjoyed it,
please consider telling your friends
and posting a review on
Amazon.com or other online sites.
Word-of-mouth referrals are
an author's best friend
and much appreciated.
Leisureville
Copyright 2014
by
Valerie Allen
All rights reserved
For more Information, please contact:
VAllenWriter@gmail.com
ValerieAllenWriter.com
Amazon.com/author/valerieallen
Amazon.com/dp/B00MW8IM08
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events, is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the United States of America. No part of this story may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author.
Short Stories
by
Valerie Allen
A Good Thing on a Bad Day
A License to Practice
A Marriage of Convenience
A Mother's Love
A Tooth for a Tooth
Best Wishes
Brotherly Love
Conditional Love
Doggie Tales
Father's Day
Fire Engine Red
Fit for Life
Future Plans
Holiday Traditions
Home for the Holidays
I Remember Momma
Just Be Cos
Ladies in Waiting
Leisureville
Love is in the Air
Match-maker
Mother Knows Best
Potty Talk
Puppy Love
No Goin' Home
Second Chance
Small Steps
Split Second Timing
Thank you, Mr. Jackson!
The Garden of Love
The Lonely Life of Amanda Miller
The Penalty Box
Words of Wisdom
Valentine's Day
Visiting Day
~ ~ ~
Leisureville(Valerie Allen)
Leisureville
by
Valerie Allen
“Halley, I don’t believe it! You spoil David and then complain,” Janet said impatiently.
Halley rotated her chair away from her desk and stared out the window with a full view of the bank lobby.
“Stop giving in to him on everything. You're his wife, not his slave,” Janet said.
Halley moved the phone a few inches from her ear. “You don’t need to shout.” She brought the phone back to the side of her face. “You know, if you weren’t my best friend, I’d hang up.”
“Only a best friend would tell you things like this,“ Janet said. “I’m not shouting. I really like David, but you’re allowing him to walk all over you.”
“He doesn’t walk all over me. He’s a good man; he works hard.”
“I agree. That’s my point, he's a man with at least three live brain cells. He can do things for himself—and for you.”
“He does do things.”
“Like what?” Janet asked. “You fix every meal, you do the yard work, you clean the house, and in case you forgot—you also have a job and work hard.”
“I know. I know, but it’s easier for me to just get things done than listen to his excuses for not getting them done.”
“See what I mean? You give in. He’s got you meeting his every need.”
Halley took a deep breath. “We’ve been married six years; so far, so good.”
“Hey, I’m not saying, ‘get rid of him now and avoid the rush,’ or anything like that. I’m just saying why not have him fix you breakfast one morning?”
Halley laughed. “If I want bitter coffee, soggy cereal, and burnt toast, that would be great.”
“There you go again, making excuses for him. He’s got you well trained and you’re teaching him to be helpless. You may not see it as a problem now, but one day you’ll regret it.”
“Janet, I’d love to hear more of your preaching, but my dad’s trying to reach me on the other line. I’ll give you a call later.”
Halley clicked the phone button twice, hung up on Janet and picked up her father’s call. “Hi, Dad, what’s up?”
“Halley,” he said weakly, hardly able to say her name.
She sat up straight, alarmed at the tone of his voice. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“It's your mother. Your mother’s gone.”
“Gone?” She swallowed hard. “What do you mean gone?”
His voice cracked. “She’s left us, Halley.”
“Dad, what are you talking about? Where are you?”
“I’m at the house.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes. I’m all alone. Your mother’s not with me any longer.”
Halley spun her chair around to her desk and moved toward her computer. Hands shaking, she typed in Airfares Florida. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. “Dad what happened?”
“It was the cats.”
Halley blinked at the computer screen and stopped typing. “The cats?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what she said, “I can’t take these cats anymore.”
Halley sat back in her chair. “When did she say that?” she demanded.
“Five days ago.”
Halley frowned. “Five days ago?” she asked, her voice rising.
“Yes. She had a hissy fit and started yelling and crying, and then she left.”
Annoyance mixed with relief, she asked, “Dad, where’s Mom now?”
“She’s with your Aunt Rachel.”
Halley let out a deep breath and felt the tension leave her chest. “She went to North Carolina?”
“Yes. She’s gone. She left. She’s not coming back.”
Exasperated, Halley slapped her hand to her forehead. “Dad, she’ll be back.”
“No. Aunt Rachel said, ‘No. She’s not coming back.’ Aunt Rachel said your mother doesn’t want to talk to me. Your mother doesn’t want to see me ever again.”
“Dad, you and Mom go through this all the time. It will blow over.”
“No. Not this time. I don’t think so,” his voice gruff. “What am I going to do?” He was on the verge of crying. “Ever since I retired, your mother has been acting strange.”
“Well, Dad, it takes time to adjust. You’ve been married more than 40 years. You’ve always worked and Mom always ran the house.”
He cleared his throat, his voice gaining strength as he spoke. “Yes, and you’d think she’d be happy, now that we have time together. Wasn’t that our plan? That’s all she ever talked about—spending more time together. We were going to travel.” He sighed. “Now she has what she wants and she’s not happy. She says me and the cats are making her crazy.”
“Dad, I think she was just out of sorts.”
He lowered his voice. “No, Halley, your mother’s 'out of sorts days' have been over for a long time." He whispered, “Don’t ever say I told you.”
Halley tried not to laugh. “Dad, I don’t mean that. I mean, maybe she had a lot to deal with that day and took it out on you.”
“I do everything she wants. She makes a list every day and I check it off. I show it to her, but is she happy? No. What does she do? She adds something else to the list.”
“She’s trying to keep you busy, Dad.”
“I am busy. I try to be helpful. I wanted to make it easy for her to find things in the pantry. I put all the cans and soups on one shelf, and boxes of pasta and rice together near the cereal.” He took a deep breath. “I fixed it up real nice, but your mother wasn’t happy. No. She yelled at me. She said I should go straighten out the garage if I wanted to be helpful.”
“That was a good idea. Did you do it?”
“Of course. I’m always doing what your mother tells me to do. I feel like my old drill instructor has landed in the living room.”
“Dad, it’s not that bad.”
“Oh, yes it is. I cleaned out the garage and got rid of a bunch of old junk, but all she did was complain.”
“What kind of junk?” Halley asked.
“I found this big box on a bottom shelf. It was way too heavy for your mother to lift. Nothing in it, but some old rags, too small to do anything with, so I threw it away.”
“Dad! You didn't!”
“What? What did she want with a box full of old cloth scraps?”
Halley rolled her eyes. “Dad, Mom is in a quilting club.”
“Quilting club? If she wants a quilt, we can afford to buy one. Who needs a quilt in Florida?”
Halley leaned forward, elbows on her desk, phone to her ear. “Dad, you shouldn’t touch her things.”
“I even bought a bunch of those little clear boxes and organized all of your mother’s craft things. How could she know what she's got? She has so many paint brushes, buttons, and old greeting cards—what a mess!”
“Dad, leave Mom’s things alone. Why didn’t you clean out your own stuff from the garage?”
“My things are neat and organized. I know where everything is,” he said, his voice going up an octave. “Listen, I spent 33 years with a company that depended on me. They just had to ask and I’d put my hand right on whatever they needed. No one had to wait around for me to find anything—no going through a hundred boxes to find what was needed. I knew where everything was and got it to them pronto!” He spoke in a rush of words.
“Dad, I know you loved your job. Maybe you should think about working again. You could get a part-time job and still play golf and travel.”
“Halley, you’re starting to sound like your mother. What? Am I supposed to get some minimum wage job and answer to some kid, younger than my bedroom slippers? No.”
“Have you thought about volunteering? You have a lot of skills others could use.”
“Please! What, do you think I should work until I die—and for free yet?”
Halley closed her eyes. She felt a small throbbing at the back of her neck. She blinked her eyes open. “I just think if you had somewhere to go and something to do each day, you’d feel better.”
“I feel just fine. I’m in good health.”
“Dad, you shouldn’t stay in the house all the time.”
“I go outside. I even helped your mother take care of her garden. She’s got so many plants in there, and all those weeds; way too much to take care of. I nearly killed myself in this Florida heat thinning out all that growth. Did she say, thank you? No. Do you know what she did? She started to cry. That’s the thanks I get from her.”
“Dad, I don’t think you understand. You need to make yourself useful.”
“I am useful. Who takes care of these cats? I feed them, clean the litter box, check for fleas. Who do you think does all of that?”
“Mom’s done it for years. She loves taking care of the cats. They're like her babies.”
“Well, you couldn’t tell from the way she treats them. She's always pushing them off the furniture. She won't even let them in our bed at night.”
Halley dragged her hand down the side of her face. “Dad, she takes good care of them.”
“Well, you better call her. Tell her to come home. What am I supposed to do? I’m out of food. My clothes are piling up; they need to be washed. What do I know about hot, warm, cold; superwash, regular fill, small load? I took a bunch of shirts to the dry cleaners. They asked me all these questions; do I want rush or normal service? Do I want starch: heavy or light? I don’t have time for this kind of stuff; all these foolish decisions every day.”
“Dad, sometimes things change when people retire.”
“All I know is, I did my job all these years, and now I’m retired. Your mother needs to do her job, she’s still on the clock. Call her.”
Halley shook her head and took a deep breath. “Okay, Dad, I’ll call her.”
* * * *
“Hey, Halley,” David said, his voice cheerful on the phone. “You're home already?”
She smiled at the sound of his voice. “Yep, I left work early. I had a long, hard day.” She was stretched on the sofa, feet propped on pillows. Both hands hugged a tall glass of iced tea, the phone tucked between her neck and shoulder.
“Me too. I’m on my way home. What’s for dinner?”
“I didn’t fix anything yet. I'm too exhausted.” She rubbed the back of her neck, pushing her fingers deep into the flesh. “I spent my free time today refereeing my parents.”
“Oh boy, that again. What was it this time?”
“Mom’s fed up. She went to North Carolina to stay with Aunt Rachel. Dad’s making her crazy, but he’s lost without her. He really needs to get out of the house and do something.”
“Retirement can be a killer,” David laughed. “What’s he doing now?”
“He’s trying to ‘help’ Mom around the house.”
David took a deep breath. “Not good. You’re right, he needs to go do his own thing.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Did he get it?”
She sighed. “Not at all. He is so in the dark ages.”
David laughed. “Some men are like that, they say.”
“Right,” Halley said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Why don’t you go out and pick up something for tonight, so you don’t have to cook? I’m kind of in the mood for Chinese. How does that sound?”
Halley closed her eyes and thought for a moment.
“Halley? Are you there?”
“Yes. I was just thinking.”
“If you don’t want Chinese, you can get something else.”
“I’m sure I could, but Chinese is okay.”
“Great. I’ll be home in about half an hour. Love you.”
She didn’t respond.
“Halley, are you okay?”
“I’m okay, but I have a better idea,” she said slowly.
“What's that?” David asked.
“How about you stop and pick up the Chinese food and be home in 45 minutes instead?”
# # #
Thank you for taking the time to read
Leisureville
If you enjoyed it,
please consider telling your friends
and posting a review on
Amazon.com or other online sites.
Word-of-mouth referrals are
an author's best friend
and much appreciated.
Leisureville
Copyright 2014
by
Valerie Allen
All rights reserved
For more Information, please contact:
VAllenWriter@gmail.com
ValerieAllenWriter.com
Amazon.com/author/valerieallen
Amazon.com/dp/B00MW8IM08
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events, is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the United States of America. No part of this story may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author.
Short Stories
by
Valerie Allen
A Good Thing on a Bad Day
A License to Practice
A Marriage of Convenience
A Mother's Love
A Tooth for a Tooth
Best Wishes
Brotherly Love
Conditional Love
Doggie Tales
Father's Day
Fire Engine Red
Fit for Life
Future Plans
Holiday Traditions
Home for the Holidays
I Remember Momma
Just Be Cos
Ladies in Waiting
Leisureville
Love is in the Air
Match-maker
Mother Knows Best
Potty Talk
Puppy Love
No Goin' Home
Second Chance
Small Steps
Split Second Timing
Thank you, Mr. Jackson!
The Garden of Love
The Lonely Life of Amanda Miller
The Penalty Box
Words of Wisdom
Valentine's Day
Visiting Day
~ ~ ~
- Share this story on
- 10
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Valerie Allen
02/02/2022Thank you, Ben. I'm glad you read and liked this story. It has a clear message about needing a "life" after retirement!
Help Us Understand What's Happening
JD
03/09/2019I guess it's never too late to train your spouse!
I thought it was well written and provided a lot of food for thought, but it seemed to skip a lot of the details I wanted to read and I felt as though there was a lot more to the two different couples stories that I wanted to know but was left out from.
The end confused me a bit, because I didn't understand why her telling her husband to give her an extra 15 minutes without his presence was a positive move in the right direction for them both. I suppose letting him know she needed more 'me time' was a good thing, but 15 minutes wouldn't change much for her, and being pushed to stay away from his own home for an extra 15 minutes when he was already hungry and anxious for dinner, couldn't have possibly made him feel he needed to be a more thoughtful husband.
Anyway, great story as usual, Valerie. Thanks for sharing your short stories on Storystar! : )
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
03/04/2019Valerie,
I had to bite my tongue before writing a comment. The story, as yours always are- was well written, thoughtful, and had a point. I do have a bone to pick with it- but that is why I bit my tongue. LOL
Five Stars, and I don't think you have ever written anything that didn't get five stars. Smiles, Kevin
COMMENTS (5)