CW: Fifty years.

“Your new hot tub looks like a spaceship with all its buttons, lights and other gadgets, and it can fly.“
– a prompt for this week’s CW piece.
[Source: @DailyPrompt]

 

“Bruce! I have a surprise for you” – Harriett said as soon as I entered the house.

“Oh, yea?” – I uttered with no enthusiasm while racking my brain for a plausible explanation.

“What’s the occasion?” – I thought to myself, as Harriett dragged me by the hand towards the back porch.

Passing by the kitchen, I managed to catch a glimpse of the calendar.

“For Heaven’s sake, slow down, Harriett. I just had my hip replaced” – I said as an excuse to take a better look at the date.

The 11th.

“The 11th of what?“

I was on a mission, and I was so close, yet so far.

“October. It’s October!“

It sounded so loud in my head that I was worried Harriett would have heard it and thought I was having a stroke.

“Just keep shuffling. We’re almost there” – she said, still holding my hand.

October 11th.

Our anniversary.

2018.

“Shit!” – I exclaimed when I realized it was our FIFTIETH anniversary.

“Bruce!” – she stopped, turned around and scolded me with her deep blue eyes.

“Sorry, dear. My hip is still recovering” – I apologized, happy that the hip issues came in handy for once.

Not only did I forget about our anniversary, but I also forgot about our fiftieth anniversary. This was bad. This was very bad.

“Ta-daaaaaaaaaah” – Harriett said, beaming with pride.

The thoughts of self-flagellation that I’ve had since realizing it was our anniversary disappeared as soon as I saw it.

“What is this?” – I asked, trying to figure out if I was dreaming.

 “It’s a hot tub, silly” – she answered, while taking off her robe and revealing a swimsuit.

“Hop on in.”

I looked around it.

It was no different than a spaceship with its buttons and lights.

I had no idea what a great majority of the functions did.

“I’m hungry, sweetheart. Can we eat first?” – I asked and withdrew into the house without waiting for an answer.

“Do you know what today is?” – she inquired as soon as she entered the kitchen.

“Of course, dear. Who do you think I am? Certainly not someone to forget such a huge anniversary” – I scoffed.

Harriett looked a little bemused.

I didn’t have the best track record for remembering dates.

“My present is a collection of experiences. I want us to enjoy it throughout the weekend. I’ll tell you tomorrow” – I said confidently, almost believing myself.

“You don’t seem excited about the tub?” – she asked between bites of mashed potatoes, green beans and steak.

“What possessed you to get it?” 

“The sales guy said it was the newest model. And the best price. And that it was good for our joints..” – she kept trying to convince me, and maybe even herself, but I wasn’t really listening.

Now I had to come up with a series of presents. And they better be good. I knew that look full of doubt in her eyes. I wanted to prove her wrong.

That night we ate and watched some TV before going to sleep in our separate bedrooms. She’s had it with my snoring, and I with her blanket snatching. Sleeping together might seem romantic at first, but after a while, it just makes sense to be comfortable and have the whole bed to yourself.

###

“I’m home!” – I exclaimed before I even pushed the door open.

I did good. Or, at least I thought I did. I got her flowers and tickets to a play she’s been talking about for months. It was my plan to just have us change and go out to eat, so she wouldn’t have to cook, or wash the dishes.

“Where’s my pretty lady?” – I wondered, because not seeing Harriett in the kitchen was an unusual sight.

Realizing that I left work early to surprise her, I headed towards the garden. She likes to tend to it when it’s nice and sunny out.

“Harriett?” 

I froze in my tracks.

“This can’t be” – I kept repeating to myself.

The flowers fell to the ground.

“This was out of this world” – she said, opening her eyes.

“Bruce?” – she asked bewildered.

A young man in his 30s turned around slowly.

“Bruce, Vince, ehmr… is the sales guy, and he was showing me…” – she stuttered.

“The various hot tub functions, huh?” – I helped her snidely.

“I’m glad he was able to make you fly” – I said as I headed towards my bedroom.

***

P.S. As always, you are more than welcome to use this prompt to inspire your post. If you decide to write something, be sure to pingback to this post, so that I can get an alert and check out your post. (A post on how to do pingbacks can be found here.) If pingbacks are not your thing, feel free to simply leave a link to your piece in the comment section below. The more, the merrier!

Stay golden,

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