The International Writers Magazine: Dreamscapes Life Moments

The Jar • Chelle Viegas Petty things irked him like the thick glistening wax that he could see in her ear when he sat beside her or, the bit of green leaf stuck between her teeth when she smiled after eating salad.

Add the chipped off nail polish when she used her fingers to eat a morsel of rice annnoyed him too or, the repelling sight of her underarms and many more petty things to blurr the huge gaping holes in their relationship that were starting to show.

These petty things helped distract him from other petty things that hinted at larger issues.
The other petty things being the lingering male cologne on her shoulders whenever she returned exhausted from work, the way she no longer laughed heartily at his corny jokes, the way she felt guilty at upsetting him even if he wasn’t upset.

Since the beginning of their relationship he and Fiama had agreed on a method of communicating the little glitches in their relationship so that they could work on them immediately so as not to affect their relationship in the long run.

They had a little jar on their dressing table labelled ‘Suggestion Box’. They would drop little chits in the box during week days about the little things that bothered them about each other during the week. And they would read the chits during the weekend. Sometimes they picked their own chit and laughed at their whines. It seemed so silly after all those days. But they would give it to the rightful owner anyway.

There were times when the jar went empty and that’s when they treated themselves to an extra dose of love making.

Now the jar was empty but Jack wanted to fill the jar with scrolls of the things he had recently begun hating about her.

She brought some jelly in her favourite glass bowl and sat with her legs up on the couch .

He noticed the way she scraped the bowl with the spoon oblivious to his irritation at the repetitive sound.
He closed his eyes and thought to himself.
‘What? What on earth did I do wrong? I was the one who came up with the suggestion box idea to avoid any conflicts between us. But I can’t hold loose threads together any longer.’
He thought despite the scraping spoon that threatened to interrupt his concentration.
‘You’re cheating on me!’, he blurted out while she gulped the last spoon of jelly.

He stared at the empty jar in front of them, then suddently without giving her a chance to say another word he picked it and flung it at her face.

The jar was just too small to fit in all the scrolls he had wanted to write, he thought as it shattered against the wall.

© C Viegas January 2014

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