Ficlets

The Tao of Jenny

As the ripples from one rock met the ripples from another, the pattern on the surface of the water became more random.

“She won’t hear me,” I whined. “I’m wasting my time, fighting a windmill. I’m throwing oranges in an apple cart.”

“It’s better than pulling mussels from a shell,” she countered. I gave her a quizzical look. “Look at me,” she continued, “a night of casual sex, an unplanned pregnancy, and I thought life was over. I fought what life threw at me instead of learning to accept it.”

I kept staring at the water. “So all of her unscheduled visits to the doctor, her dentist, and her masseuse are nothing to worry about?” I wondered. “She’s being faithful, and I should stop ponderating otherwise?” Frustration still rose behind my veneer. I was unconsciously grinding my foot into the haphazard pile of pebbles beneath it.

Her hand squeezed my arm and I stopped. “I know this place you’re in,” she said, “and I’ll be here as long as you need me. Together, we might even find a way out.”

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