Terry's Troubles

by uselessness

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Terry Tervis was fat and ugly.

At the photo shoot she could barely pose, so concerned was she with the rolls of cellulite she almost had, that she could almost see, almost hanging over the top of her bikini bottoms. It was revolting.

When she was handed a copy of the final calendar, she glanced at it and tossed it away in disgust. Those eyebrows, like the mangy fur of a werewolf! Those horrible detached earlobes, like a pair of saggy wings hanging off her head! Why couldn’t she just look more like Miss September?

“I heard your calendar went to press,” said Mrs. Tervis. “I’m so proud of you, baby.”

Terry slumped over half a cup of yogurt and a bottle of diet lemonade. “I don’t want to talk about it, Mom.”

“Honey, I saw the proofs. You looked beautiful!”

“Yeah, if you like yellow teeth and love handles.”

“Terry. You looked beautiful.” Mrs. Tervis leveled her gaze across the kitchen table at her daughter. The girl sighed, giving up; arguing never worked. Mrs. Tervis simply couldn’t be reasoned with.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. Terry's Troubles

    JLaughter's Buddy Icon JLaughter

    Posted 4 months ago

    Women! Can’t live with ‘em, can’t shoot ‘em. Well…not legally, anyway…
    Kind of sad that this is actually how some people think, and a good look at how frustrating it can be to observe someone who’s beautiful, but doesn’t think they are.

  2. Terry's Troubles

    THX 0477's Buddy Icon THX 0477

    Posted 4 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great job at getting inside the head of the body-conscious model type. The last sentence was a bit confusing. Maybe ‘Miss Tervis’ would make it clearer, unless you meant either there’s only one person at the table or that the mom is actually the problem.

  3. Terry's Troubles

    thebetweenspace's Buddy Icon thebetweenspace

    Posted 4 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    So that’s what’s going on inside those disturbed minds of theirs! I see what THX is hitting at with the last line. It’s a bit hard to tell if it’s coming from the mother or daughter Tervis’s point of view. I read it as from the daughter’s, as if she thinks she’s sane and Mrs. Tervis won’t listen to reason so why argue.

  4. Terry's Troubles

    Jenunique's Buddy Icon Jenunique

    Posted 4 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Very good job of getting inside the head of the young Tervis.

  5. Terry's Troubles

    uselessness' Buddy Icon uselessness

    Posted 4 months ago

    Yeah, thebetweenspace has it, I’ll see if I can rework that to make more sense. Since the story is from Terry’s point of view, it’s her mom who is viewed as the stubborn one, even though the woman is perfectly rational. :-)
    LoA

  6. Terry's Troubles

    uselessness' Buddy Icon uselessness

    Posted 4 months ago

    I tweaked it… hopefully it makes more sense now!
    LoA

  7. Terry's Troubles

    Hunting Beauty's Buddy Icon Hunting Beauty

    Posted 4 months ago

    You did a good job. And just so you guys don’t go jumping to any conclusions, that’s not how all girls think. :p

    Girls like the one in this story, I find very annoying. You did a good job of getting in the mind of a girl like that though. Some times you amaze me…how in the world did you know exactly how some girls think. You worry me, Parker. LOL

  8. Terry's Troubles

    uselessness' Buddy Icon uselessness

    Posted 4 months ago

    Haha, I’m with you, Hunting Beauty, it’s a very annoying and frustrating mentality! I like to write ficlets that stretch me, by getting into the heads of characters I don’t have much experience with in real life. It would be too easy to write things from my own point of view all the time; gotta make it a little challenging! :-)
    LoA

  9. Terry's Troubles

    THX 0477's Buddy Icon THX 0477

    Posted 4 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Yep, the tweaking made it smooth as silk. Awesome job! And of course not all girls think this way. Just like not all guys even like a stick-thin woman.

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