Lost In Space...Beagle 2 by Harvey Kennett The true story of Beagle 2 ? Apologies to Yanks in general... [1,105 words]
The Happy Housewife
Mind's Shadow by J Shartzer A teenager is engrossed in the search for the reason of his girlfriend's sudden suicide. [8,115 words]
Melancholy Polly by J Shartzer A young woman with a bizzare history is deeply affected by her mother's death. [1,579 words]
Your Little God Is Pooh And Creepy Too by Xoggoth Only the innocent find salvation. In the run up to the revelation the ki... [1,442 words]
The Three Rotten Sisters by Christopher W Sorenson A funny short story about three snoody women who marry three fine gentlemen. In the e... [789 words]
The Markings Of An Angle by Narinder Bhambra A short story. [1,398 words]
The Fly And... by Xoggoth That Geoff Goldblum had it easy! One fly?? I should have been so lucky! [483 words]
The Difference-1 by Sukesh Srivastava An emotional story of sacrifices made for each other in the family. [4,595 words]
The Diary Of Mystery by Hazli Ghazali Collection of Hazli's short stories under the topic of mystery, a lot to think and discove... [3,982 words]
The Come Back by Bryan Meckley About a successful overdose. [2,157 words]
Ripple Effect by E Rocco Caldwell A scientist has discovered time travel or maybe his own descent into insanity. [838 words]
Providing For Sarah by Xoggoth A desolate man finds comfort in an imaginary (?) companion. But who will care for her when ... [883 words]
Pakistani Feast by Jerry Pat Bolton A man, alone in the jungles of Pakistani, become surrounded by a pride of tigers. [1,681 words]
Night Ride by P J Lawton A tired young man accepts a ride from a mysterious stranger. [1,463 words]
My Eternal Triangle by Erasmus Flynt - [710 words]
Monica's Pie by Paul B Kramer Reklon Harponip, a Turkish lad on his own in America, identifies with Monica Lewinsky's plight as ... [3,062 words]
Man Skin by Harvey Kennett When you sleep, what happens to your dreams ? [776 words]
Hell Is A Personal Place by Erasmus Flynt Each of us has a personal idea of Hell! [1,043 words]
Goodnight Sweet Kevin by Harvey Kennett It concerns me that we, as a species, follow trends and "buzzwords", and anyone who dares... [603 words]
God's Trainees by Xoggoth Him upstairs is thinking of retiring, all he needs to do is train up some suitable replacements.... [1,570 words]
Fury Of Steele by Robert E Tadlock The drug lords of Hong Kong are trying to take over L.A. But Hong Kong itself will feel the fury... [2,686 words]
Free Road by Deon Coetzee The possibility that life may be ended with a happy parting of one's shadow, ie. suicide, that is not... [194 words]
Food For Thought by P J Lawton Ever wonder where the food of the future will come from? [973 words]
Do You Remember Now? by E Daugherty - [703 words]
Did You Hear The One About The Three Icelandic Bishops by Gypsey Teague When you invite a guest into your home, be prepared for ... [493 words]
Death Walk by P J Lawton A space ship crashes on a lonely planet leaving the crew a long walk to safety. [1,147 words]
Changing To Go Out by Xoggoth In the aftermath of the genetic bomb, a simple night at the pictures with the missus is no e... [444 words]
Business Card by E Rocco Caldwell Madness can be in a simple telephone call. [723 words]
Back To The Garden by Xoggoth Depressing the extent to which everything is being dumbed down these days. Poor state educat... [527 words]
A Conversation With God by Kevin Myrick Basically, its a short story with sort of a twisted view on the whole walking with god ... [1,230 words]
The Music I Held by E Daugherty - [802 words]
Licorice Tea by Shelley J Alongi This is a story I havent' worked into my novel yet; it's how Rachel makes a decision to fall in lo... [3,590 words]
Victim by Gypsey Teague By the full of the moon, and the cloak of the night. There are some things that are better Kept in the l... [1,372 words]
Twisted Figures by Rae Just wrote it down as it came to mind.. no sense or anything :) [294 words]
Things To Do Before I Die by Gypsey Teague Everyone makes lists. Some mean more than others. [1,045 words]
The Waitress Fom Hell by Richard Koss The story of a patron's ongoing feud with an over-the-hill waitress. [750 words]
The Soldier by Solo A darkly lyrical tale of an old soldier seperated from his men behind enemy lines who takes on a mi... [8,019 words]
The Siege Of Tar Ebon by Dayne Edmondson This is a story of human kind's greatest hour of need. [2,501 words]
The Man I Call My Dad by Justin M Chapman A story about my dad that I wrote for a class. It tells about him. [979 words]
The Gatekeeper Of The Heaven by Partha Pratim Majumder Theme : Hypothetically, the concept of God,heaven etc. are all created by and pr... [2,419 words]
The Divine Inside Of Thoughts by Elroy Jamoke Lloyd Auto-bio piece... [4,442 words]
The Clearing by E Rocco Caldwell A simple ghost story that happens to be true. [783 words]
Spirits Revolt by Jack Roland Butter When Donna moves to her new Californian house she can't believe her luck. Soon she discovers tha... [1,079 words]
Simon Says: The Case Of The Singing Lady Blues by P J Lawton A hard-boiled private detective makes a fatal mistake. He can't ... [3,757 words]
Simon Says: Case Of Vengeance By The Letter by P J Lawton A hard-boiled private detective's past comes back to haunt him. [3,972 words]
Simon Says: Case Of The Deadly Diamond Dupe by P J Lawton A hard-boiled private detective reluctantly gets involved in a terr... [3,813 words]
Shadow Cat by John Caruso On a cold winter day a feral kitten wandered out of the wooded paradise surrounding our home in west... [22,470 words]
Roundabout Love by Kevin Myrick The story of two people who shouldn't be able to fall in love, but came together. [1,187 words]
Pyscho Librarian by Sarah Beresh About a librarian who was a Physco killer and told all her lil library kids about her past the... [1,849 words]
Not Much Like Christmas by Stephanie A Erickson A short story based on the song "Christmas By The Phone" by Good Charlotte. Also based ... [2,616 words]
Neighbors by Shelley J Alongi Aviation story. This story takes place before Andrew meets Anne in his spactacular early morning lan... [1,523 words]
Mom's Color Code by Partha Pratim Majumder Relationship between mother and son. The very intricate relationship that needs no description... [1,287 words]
Managing by Shelley J Alongi Twenty years after marriage, and despite life, Anne and Andrew still manage to hold everything togethe... [2,329 words]
Last Day by Shelley J Alongi Aviation Story 18. Anne and Andrew, a sinus headache, troublesome passengers, a frantic boss, and the ... [2,335 words]
Landing Part Two by Shelley J Alongi Aviation story. Relationship conflict. Melanie talks to Laura about Jeff. [1,765 words]
Landing Part Three by Shelley J Alongi Origins of the accident. Pleasant flight. [1,176 words]
Landing Part One by Shelley J Alongi Anaviation story. A pilot is caught between a rock and a hard place, literally, leading to a ... [1,637 words]
Landing Part Four by Shelley J Alongi Melanie is afraid. [1,480 words]
Landing Part Five by Shelley J Alongi Jeff's dream. [1,033 words]
Jolly John's Last Laugh by Partha Pratim Majumder In 1963 , A young Englishman bought an old Bunglow at the foothills of Himalayas near ... [2,437 words]
Is It Real Or Is It Memorex? by D G Williford You tell me... [82 words]
Billy And Jason by Ashley A Selsing Jason meets a new kid, Billy, who steals his things. At first they are enemies, but they then ... [1,382 words]
Back Page News by E Rocco Caldwell The thoughts of a dying US soldier on the road to baghdad. [805 words]
Attack Of The Sans by Randy Johnson A Space Warrior named Fland travels to a planet called Narburg and battles intelligent Slug ... [3,022 words]
An Encounter With Evil by P J Lawton A young man's search for the bizarre gets him a little more than he bargined for. [1,761 words]
A Season For Figs by Geraldine Winters A short story. [3,255 words]
A Hike by Jennifer Winter A short story. [875 words]
A Friend by Peter Izdebski I was like clay, so soft and yellow. I listened and followed because I didn't know that I could talk ... [917 words]
Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 [29] 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
| |
TITLE (EDIT)
The Happy Housewife |
DESCRIPTION
A short but powerfull tale of a battered woman.
[980 words] |
TITLE KEYWORD
Drama |
AUTHOR
April Griffin |
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
April Griffin resides in Edmonton Canada with her children. She is currantly taking Fine Arts at Grant MacEwan College. www.aprilgriffin.com
[May 2012] |
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL ADDRESS
[email protected] |
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (2)
Guilty (Short Stories) Guilty. Thats what the jury said. [389 words] [Drama]
Respect For Authority (Short Stories) If he was Alfies kid Alf would slap the mohawk clean off the top of his head. Thats what Alf would do. [412 words]
|
The Happy Housewife
April Griffin
Kayla continued washing walls. At 30 and after 4 kids she still looked attractive. Brown hair spilling down her back. While she put on a little weight since the day she was married it went to the right places and she carried it well. As she scrubbed she ignored the ever present pain in her back. She wondered where she had gone wrong. Adding elbow grease, without even noticing, to get the crayola off. Her mind was lost in the painful journey she found it taking so much these days.
Her tired eyes gave no hint of where her thoughts were going. The inner sorrow hid along with an occasional hint of hope. She no longer dreamed of leaving, having resigned herself to the responsibilities she took on. She had long since joined the secret club of women who live life through romance novels and soap operas because they had decided that they would make it work even though they knew their was no love left. The women who sleep in different bedrooms than their husbands. The women who wear dark sunglasses until the years had mellowed out hubbies temper or he simply got so bored with her he couldn�t be bothered. The wives who have their husbands find call girls or keep a lady in an apartment across town so they will leave them alone. The ones who nip the cooking sherry after breakfast and whiten their coffee with baileys hidden in the back of a cupboard. The secret club of the happy housewives each coping in their own ways.
She didn�t have the luxury of a separate bedroom and she didn�t have the courage to ask him to seek satisfaction elsewhere. She hated having sex with the stranger who was her husband. The man she no longer knew yet knew all too well. Not so long ago she thought him the most amazing man on earth. The stars themselves shone brighter because of him. Now she felt a sick revulsion when he touched her. She had to swallow it down. To hide it and make it through without grimaces or involuntarily pushing him away. She wanted to love him. To find some part of the man he used to be and cling to it. She didn�t notice she had stopped scrubbing. �Wash the damn walls you lazy bitch� He was going to start losing it again if she wasn�t careful but once he got in a snit it was so easy to set him off.
She scrubbed again with a new vigour hoping to appease him. The smell of pine cleaner burning in her nose making her dizzy. She was a fireball once. Full of dreams and ideas and not one to take crap from any man. She wondered how she got so meek. Why she let it happen. Why she didn�t leave long ago before it went so far. She could hear him ranting to himself. He would blow up soon. She felt the pain dig into her back. A constant reminder of the last time. At first she thought the pain was in her kidneys but after a few days she knew it was her back. She wondered if it would ever leave her or if it would be her souvenir well into the golden years. His rage was mounting. Soon she would pay. She would pay for the bagboy who was rude at the store. She would pay for the co-worker who teased. She would pay for every man that dared to notice her. She would pay because he was upset with his mother. She would pay because the bills were too high and because the government took too much tax. She would pay with her body and she would pay twice. When his rage was quenched he would want her to screw him. Not make-up sex. Just screwing. She hoped the children would stay sleeping. She didn�t want them to witness this.
The hands twisted into the hair at the back of her head and rammed her face into the wall. �You dirty little whore� blood trickled from her nose. Her arm was pulled behind her back then with the hands still in her hair she was flung back and turned around, flying towards the couch. When her body made contact the couch flipped over. She scrambled to her feet and started to run for the door but realized she couldn�t leave the children. Salty taste on her tongue. Had she bitten it or was it coming from her nose?
�Get back here you stupid bitch. Stop crying�. Again her body hit a wall she crumpled to the floor. The kicking started. Protectively she curled into the fetal position. She bit her lip and tried not to scream. The irony that today was their anniversary stung her. A big fat reminder of how she got in this place. �Get up! Get up!. He was using her hair to pull her up. Her feet failed her. �Get up and say your sorry bitch! I cant stop! I can�t stop until you say you�re sorry! Get up and say it! Look what you�re making me do!� she fought for words and gagged on the blood. She swallowed so there wouldn�t be more on the floor. �You stupid bitch look what you made me do.� A blow hit her stomach. She had lost a baby that way. Fighting for air. Fighting to get the words I'm sorry out. She knew this is what her life would be. She couldn�t leave and she wouldn�t leave and she couldn�t hurt the children by taking her own life. She couldn�t leave them to bear this burden. She had thought of that any times before. This was what she had to look forward to. The happy Housewife. Air filling her lungs. Gasping �I'm Sorry I'm so sorry� She meant it
|
READER'S REVIEWS (14)
DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"this was a very difficult read but it kept me glued to each word. i know this does go on but can't even begin to imagine the feeling of hopelessness. i hope this was an active mind at work and not an experience. one hit is one too many." -- Just A Guy.
"this was difficult to read,when it was 1st shared with me.Now it's being shared here,which despite what i know about the artist, additionaly reassures me that she has moved past it. Awesome,and powerful to say the least!!" -- naked, austin , texas, us.
"This was wonderfully written all the way to the last word. My only hope in completing it was that it was fiction; although I am not so naive to think it isn't someone's reality. Just hopefully not yours. Your writing is compelling and strong and keeps the reader at the edge. I look forward to more from you." -- KM (Michelle).
"This a sad story that even angered me but it managed to keep my attention. I payed attention to every detail wondering why this had to happen to a seemingly beautiful and smart woman. This short story was written very well and I would like to read more rom this writer." -- Irving Lopez.
"This essay was powerful and moving. I felt the pain and despair the �housewife� (and author) probably endured. Compelling to read!" -- Joe, Naperville, IL, USA.
"I liked the essay because it is something that a few women can relate to. I felt the pain the woman was going through, how is it that a strong woman turns weak? At times I got lost in the story but I understood the meaning of it and I can imagine what will happen next. "The Happy Housewife" was a real 'joy' to read and brings a real since of truth to life. I look forward to more." -- Lynn, Chicago, IL, US.
"I feel that the begining of this story should have been more attention grabbing. There is alot of good material and abuse is a great topic. What I liked was that it let you in on the woman's perspective." -- Rebecca, Chicago, USA, IL.
"This story made me cringe as I read it, but forced me to realize the harsh reality that many women face. The story was filled with vivid detail which made me feel the woman's pain." -- Meghan, Chicago, IL, USA.
"This depiction of an abused woman is graphic! The detail given in the story helped me to feel and see what the house wife had to endure. This is probly as close as you can get to the emotions and thought process of an abused woman without being one. As a man and father it sickens me to think this happens on a daily basis to thousands of women. I hope that if there is a woman in this situation who has read this finds solace in the knowledge that she is not alone. I would also hope this would nudge her to seek help for herself. To the author.... EXELENT JOB! Thank you for the insight. God bless" -- juggalo.
" I feel so sad for the woman who have to go through abuse like that. Its that type of story where you just want help woman that are in that kind of state. I thought the story was well written and you discribed it so well. I hope you write more on it. Maybe this story will help battered woman. Hope it does tho." -- Timothy, Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada.
"I had a friend who tried to leave an abusive lover. They were not even married. She got away from him. Used restraining orders and tried to get help from the police. He kidnapped and killed her. I hope this story has a better ending." -- Chris.
"i had to do a short story assignment for school & as i was searching the web for one i found your "the happy housewife" i couldn't get it out of my head & then i thought i had found something else but again was yours as well "eternity" you are so talented i wish i could right like you,i just love how you express your feelings/characters feelings into words its awesome keep up the great work & its awesome to show how your canadian so am i! isn't it great...eh?" -- Jenn.
"This is a good story, though as others have said, it's hard to read. I have been through things like this - but I did get out. I would love to have seen some hope for Kayla - but it's the more powerful a story, for the fact that there isn't... " -- Debbie Kean.
"Wesley - it's not that easy! If it was would there be battered women - NO!!! I know how this woman feels and she feels vulnerable and most of all guilty (hence the '...I'm so sorry' and she meant it' line. She genuinely believes it is her fault. Also, from the subtext you can see that she is protective of her children so more than likely wants to keep her kids safe byt deflecting the blows herself. I agree with most of the other readers, a tough subject but handled brilliantly - I really enjoyed reading this piece although it stirred up a lot of memories." -- Rather not say, England.
TO DELETE UNWANTED REVIEWS CLICK HERE! (SELECT "MANAGE TITLE REVIEWS" ACTION) |
|
Submit Your Review for The Happy Housewife
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.
|
|
Submit Your Rating for The Happy Housewife
|
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2002 April Griffin |
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
December 2005 |
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2314
|
|
