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Contemporary

Rosie wilted against the cool bathroom tiles, her head spinning and stomach aching. She had just finished heaving its contents into the toilet. With deep, slow breaths, she hoisted herself from the floor and washed her face in the sink, splashing the cool water on the back of her neck. Today was the day, and her stomach threatened to heave again just thinking about it.

Allie was moving out.

After living for eighteen years under her mother’s roof, Allie had declared a month ago that she had found a share house near her university, and she would be moving out of home. Rosie was happy. She told herself that this was good, a healthy step for her daughter to take. She was proud, really she was. There was no reason for her to feel this way. This soul gripping anxiety born of fear and loss. A very strange combination of emotions that did not sit well with her stomach. She looked into the mirror at her pale face and stifled another round of nausea with long, slow breaths.

“It will be fine, it will be ok. This is a normal, natural reaction to a new stress,” Rosie told her reflection ruthlessly. She never pulled any punches when she spoke to herself, the kind of brutal honesty that one can only give to oneself. Her therapist had told her that she needed to be kinder, and that she should speak to herself the way she would speak to a good friend, with compassion and gentleness. But Rosie didn’t have time for that. She needed to give herself a good strong talking to, get her silly emotional response under control, and be happy and excited for her daughter. This was a big step, a big exciting new journey for Allie, and she didn’t need her mother to crumble under the weight of a panic attack.

The breakfast dishes kept Rosie focused on one task, and she methodically made her way through washing and drying, eschewing the dishwasher in favour of completing the task by hand. It kept her busy while Allie and her boyfriend Zac marched packing boxes through the house and into the waiting boot of Allie’s little hatch.

“You Ok?” She glanced up from polishing the large pot as her husband, David, detoured through the kitchen on his way back from loading the car.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Rosie reassured him, her lips trembling into a wobbly, unconvincing smile as she turned back to the sink so he wouldn’t see the lie in her eyes.

David caught her about her waist in a gentle hug. He knew. After nearly twenty years together, he understood her better than she would like. “She’ll be fine. It’s not like she’s moving interstate, she’s only a few suburbs away. Twenty minutes away, tops.”

“I know… it’s just…”

“She’s eighteen. Remember what you were doing at the same age?”

Rosie chuckled wryly, despite herself. “That’s what worries me!”

“Come on, she will be fine. She has a good head on her shoulders.”

“I just don’t want her to make the same mistakes I did.”

“So, I was a mistake?”

“You know that’s not what I mean! It’s just if she were to get pregnant now, it would ruin all her plans.”

David carefully turned her in his arms to look into her eyes. “She’s a good kid. Trust her.”

“I know, and I do…”

“And Zac’s a good kid. They’re good together and they have plans. Don’t worry so much. You’ll make yourself sick again.”

She hadn’t realised that David knew about her illness this morning, but she should have known. Not much slipped past him.

“Just think of all the time we’ll have together, just you and me…” He hugged her tighter, and rested his head on top of hers as he rocked them in a little dance shuffle around the kitchen. A whoop of surprise escaped from her mouth as he spun her quickly and executed a romantic dip, culminating in a peck on the lips. She laughed, even as her stomach protested the sudden motion.

“Get going, you fool,” she told him with mock sternness as she pushed him away, all the while stifling both bubbling laughter and rising nausea.



There were tears in her eyes as she watched Allie and Zac take off in their little car, with David following in the SUV. There was no room for her to go along with them. Allie’s bed had been disassembled and it just fit in the car from the passenger seat to the boot. And all the passenger space in both cars was crowded with boxes and belongings.

Secretly, Rosie was pleased.

It meant she didn’t have to pretend to be happy, to dredge up that fake smile that was curdling her stomach. She could indulge in a bit of selfish therapy and curl up in her bed to cry. David wouldn’t be back for hours, as he was needed to assist with the reassembling of the bed. It would be safe to let the tears fall. No one would see them, no one would know. She ignored all the housework, the piles of laundry, the vacuum cleaner and headed straight for her bedroom, where she slipped between the sheets on her bed, covered her head with the blankets and gave in to the sobs that shook her whole body.



Eventually, the tears stopped, but she didn’t move from her warm cocoon. In the darkness beneath the covers, she closed her eyes as memories flitted through her brain.

They hadn’t meant to get pregnant. She’d only been eighteen and David not quite twenty. Too young, too stupid to know better. Not that she regretted it, no! Just maybe she should have gotten her life together first.

Her parents were a godsend. Although her mum had insisted that they get married to provide a family for the baby, they had allowed them all to live with them rent free for the first year.

Rosie deferred her second semester of university, to focus on the new baby, while David finished his degree so he could secure a good job. Once he was working, they were able to move their tiny family into a small flat. That was when Rosie managed to go back to university part time, and her four-year degree pushed out to ten. She graduated when Allie was eight and spent a few years working as a new graduate. By the time her career was established, she realised that their family was complete. They were a family of three. Perhaps if she had managed to give Allie some siblings, it wouldn’t be so painful today to watch her daughter waltz out of her life.



She must have gone back to sleep at some point, because she awoke to warm hands snaking around her from behind. David pulled her into his embrace, her back tight against his chest.

“It’s ok, love. She’s going to be fine.” David whispered into her hair.

“I know.” And she did. Allie was a good kid, she’d made sure of that. She was well educated and bright enough not to be caught out the same way her mother had been.

“So, what are we going to do with all our spare time?” David nuzzled her neck.

She playfully shrugged away. “Keep your thoughts clean, Mister!”

“What? I was thinking of monopoly and dance classes!”

“Sure you were!” She rolled over to face him. He was still as handsome as when she first met him when she was a girl. She traced the extra lines on his face that time had given him. “I love you.”

“We never really had time to ourselves, did we?”

“No.”

“Well, let’s look at it this way. We’re empty nesters. It’s time for a new start. All the things we could never do, all those times we missed out on doing things our footloose and fancy free friends were doing, because we had responsibilities, well, we can do them now. And our friends will be jealous, as we cruise the Bahamas, or fly to the Swiss Alps…”

“Do you really think I’d go so far from Allie?”

“Well, maybe snorkeling in Ningaloo and cruising the Whitsunday Islands. But the point is, our friends are all tied down with family and soccer training and ballet recitals. We’re not. The whole world is there for our taking, and we’re old enough to understand it and young enough to still enjoy it.”

“You sound like an ad.”

“Come on, there must be a thousand dreams that you put on hold because of our circumstances. What’s one?”

Rosie thought of all her friends, their ‘soccer mum’ SUV’s filled with booster seats and prams, or sporting equipment, or instruments. They were tied to their children still.

David was right, now that Allie had moved out, they were free. She did want to be free, didn’t she?

“Come on.” David whipped the blankets from her and pulled her to the edge of the bed. “Let’s make plans.”



David was a planner, she was the worrier. She’d like to think she spelled it with an ‘a’ and an ‘o’—warrior, but no, she worried, always had. David brought out pen and paper and set to writing a list. Exciting prospects were filling up numbers that marched down the side of the page. Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Daintree. They were places she had always dreamed of seeing, places they put off because dragging a child around wasn’t fun, and the price of travel in school holidays was prohibitive.

Rosie allowed a glimmer of excitement to well within her. It would be worth it, this newfound independence. She could make plans for a future without the need to put anyone else’s needs before her own. No need to plan for a child, to ensure there were enough activities to engage an inquiring mind, but not too many that overwhelmed, enough food to feed a growing child, enough clothes that fit for the season, enough sanitary products for a teenaged emergency. Hang on… when was the last time she had bought them?

Suddenly the blood dropped from her face, mid-thought, and the world spun. She took some deep, steadying breaths. David was now on his phone, googling attractions in Coober Pedy. What the hell? Who wants to go to Coober Pedy?

“Um, David?” She interrupted him mid-sentence. He looked up with a sheepish grin.

“Yeah, well, maybe not Coober Pedy, but there is some interesting history and opal mining there.”

“I think I need to go to a Chemist.”


*


Rosie and David sat across from one another on the bed, later that afternoon, their eyes glued to the white plastic as it did its thing.

Two lines.

Positive.

Neither said anything for a long, few moments, no sound except the pounding of blood within her ears and the slow exhalation from David as he lifted his gaze to hers.

“I think we’re back to square one,” he said.

Rosie looked from his ashen face to the plastic test and back again. Visions of booster seats and prams and sleepless nights and… well, it didn’t frighten her, not this time.

April 16, 2023 13:28

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46 comments

Amanda Lieser
02:47 May 04, 2023

Hi Michelle! What a wonderful story and creative take on the prompt. I liked the way we got into the protagonist’s mind as she really sorter through her feelings on this big change. I also really loved the way you painted her marriage-as a source of strength in the hard times. You did a great job of showcasing two people in it for love. My favorite line was: She did want to be free, didn’t she? Nice work!!

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Michelle Oliver
11:29 May 04, 2023

Thanks Amanda, glad you enjoyed it. The sequel is posted in this weeks prompts.

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Helen A Smith
15:39 May 01, 2023

Hi Michelle I was pleased with the twist at the end. You wrote the story so well that I never attributed the nausea at the beginning to being pregnant. Feel a bit silly now! The couple must have felt such mixed emotions at the discovery, but at least they knew what to expect and they have a strong marriage to help. Really enjoyed it.

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Michelle Oliver
05:38 May 02, 2023

Thanks Helen, I’m glad you enjoyed the story.

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Russell Mickler
03:06 Apr 27, 2023

Hey Michelle! I really liked how you described the bathroom scene at the beginning. It seemed very honest and clear, I dunno - kind of like if you rang a tuning fork, it just sounded very real. The dialogue was great. There’s a lot of complexity under the hood on this one, a mix of showing and telling. Really liked it! R

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Michelle Oliver
10:07 Apr 27, 2023

Thanks for the response Russell and I am glad you enjoyed it. A tuning fork, love that metaphor!

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Ashley Elizabeth
21:28 Apr 26, 2023

Awwwwwwww! I love it! This actually happened to my mom. I am 20 years older than my youngest brother. He is a light in all our lives!

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Michelle Oliver
22:21 Apr 26, 2023

Thanks for reading this one. I’m happy that you could relate to it.

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Ariana Khagraj
21:32 Apr 24, 2023

Great Job! This was such an interesting story to read. And the ending was such a twist I enjoyed it very much.

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Michelle Oliver
02:36 Apr 25, 2023

Thank you for reading it, and I’m happy that you enjoyed it.

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Zack Powell
03:01 Apr 23, 2023

I didn't see the ending coming at all - not at the beginning, not in the middle, not until after that last line break. I don't even know what I thought was going to happen (well, that's not true; when I first read the opening few sentences, I thought this might be a story about an eating disorder - yes, even with such an obvious title to suggest that would NOT be the case), so I was carried tenderly along by the characters and the plot. And the ending hit hard for me because of that. It helps that there are SO many well-planted clues through...

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Michelle Oliver
07:38 Apr 23, 2023

Thanks for reading and giving such detailed feedback and analysis. So happy that the mood of the story came through. Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans kind of vibe, and you either roll with the punches or you wail “woe is me”. I like to think of this couple as pretty solid. So many stories are set up about angst and relationships gone wrong, that people tend to overlook the subtle strength of things that are working. In this case even when the plan goes astray, they are a team working together.

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Delbert Griffith
14:34 Apr 21, 2023

Wow wow wow! I suspected that the mom was pregnant after the first paragraph, but you then adroitly led me astray with a mother's worry and sadness at her daughter's leaving for a new place to live. And then, the end. That was just terrific! I can't imagine what was going through the married couple's mind when they found out about the pregnancy, but it wasn't fear, and I suspect they weren't traumatized. Just a great ending to the tale, leaving the reader with an unfinished but happy coda. Great stuff, Michelle. Simple great. Cheers, my fri...

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Michelle Oliver
00:28 Apr 22, 2023

Thanks for reading. I appreciate the feedback and glad you enjoyed it.

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Lily Finch
17:25 Apr 19, 2023

Michelle, this is a story that I can relate to. Although I did not get pregnant before I completed university, I got to experience the joy of having children in my twenties and then again in my forties. Two in my twenties and two in my forties. Let me tell you, your story is extremely life-like and very relatable for me. I enjoyed why the story unfolded the way that it did and how you laid this story out. Thank you for writing this and ending on a positive note. I can appreciate it as a contemporary story and have experienced many sleepl...

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Michelle Oliver
22:35 Apr 19, 2023

Thanks lily, I am happy that it resonated with you. Thanks for reading.

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Susan Catucci
00:51 Apr 19, 2023

This story of yours, Michelle, is SO life-like and satisfying in an are-you-kidding-me sort of way, much like life itself. You laid it out like a carrot to the horse that leads to a final gotcha, non-apologetically and fairly matter-of-fact; again, just a reflection of life as we know it and how it's dished out. I loved reading it and all its familiarity - until the end that is; that's when I myself heaved a huge sigh of relief! Thanks for the gift, Michelle, you, your writing and this story.

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Michelle Oliver
04:13 Apr 19, 2023

Thanks for reading and responding to this one. Imagine the one thing that would send you back to the beginning! I think I would Not be so calm about it. I’m glad it felt like a real life story. Glad you enjoyed it.

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Viga Boland
22:54 Apr 18, 2023

Way to go Michelle. Good one! Reminds me of when hubby and I retired and began making plans to finally travel and suddenly our phone rang. Not going to say what that call was…might make for a good future story…but bottom line, that was the last time we ever dreamed of travelling the world. Love the way you built us up and saved the twist for the end. Great storytelling technique. And as always, so perfectly written, grammatically, stylistically, you name it. And what a great topic for those of us who have experienced our babies leaving home...

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Michelle Oliver
23:12 Apr 18, 2023

Hi Viga, Thanks for reading. Yes, how different all these stories are. I thought, what would be the one thing that would send you right back to square one, having to start again? A late life oops just when you thought you could start planning your new life. Funny, it actually happened to a lady I worked with, but in her story her daughter was also pregnant, so uncle and niece were born at the same time.

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Viga Boland
00:00 Apr 19, 2023

That’s crazy! Wow. Well your take on sending someone back to square one works perfectly. But I’d expect no less from you mate! 😉

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Marty B
00:00 Apr 18, 2023

Doh! that’s a tough one -I m feeling sleep deprived just reading it!

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Michelle Oliver
00:09 Apr 18, 2023

Yep… so true!

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RJ Holmquist
22:06 Apr 17, 2023

This was great! I caught on about half way through. All the funnier because she was so worried about her daughter getting pregnant, but also very sweet because of the empty nester romantic scenes. I was so glad she seemed ready to roll with it!

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Michelle Oliver
22:56 Apr 17, 2023

Thanks for giving this one a read. Glad you enjoyed my little mid- life bump of a story.

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Stevie Burges
10:17 Apr 17, 2023

A clever story as usual, Michelle. I had to return to the beginning when she was throwing up and then trace it to the pregnancy test. I wasn't ready for it to be Rosie. I initially read the final paragraph as Rosie and Allie sitting on the bed discussing the test results - I'd forgotten the first paragraph hadn't I? Use of the prompt - perfect!

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Michelle Oliver
10:27 Apr 17, 2023

Thanks for reading it Stevie. Could you imagine anything worse to bring you right back to the beginning, than a surprise late life ‘oops’! I don’t think I would be as accepting as Rosie TBH!

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Stevie Burges
10:39 Apr 17, 2023

Yea but Dave is written in such a sympathetic kind of way - in my head I think Rosie can cope.

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Michelle Oliver
10:56 Apr 17, 2023

Let’s hope so!

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Michelle Oliver
11:01 Apr 17, 2023

I’ve edited that last paragraph for transparency. If you’re able to give it another look, does it help to clear up the confusion?

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Stevie Burges
11:27 Apr 17, 2023

Hi Michelle - no, it was my comment that was confusing. I actually thought how clever the last paragraph was in the way it linked back to Rosie's (early morning) sickness that was assumed to be caused by stress because of Allie leaving. The story said Rosie hoped Allie wouldn't follow the same route as Rosie (getting pregnant). So when Rosie noticed she hadn't gone to the Chemist to buy sanitaryware, I thought (because I'm dumb) that she bought for the household - herself and Allie and had noticed that Allie had missed her period - but I ...

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Darryl Roberts
09:14 Apr 17, 2023

Well written as always. Do I detect a sense of the autobiographical? Rosie is absolutely ready for another journey down maternity road.

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Michelle Oliver
09:26 Apr 17, 2023

Gosh no! Well maybe some lived experience, in the fact that I’m a mum of teenagers.

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Wally Schmidt
01:38 Apr 17, 2023

OMG did not see that coming. Talk about being in it for the long haul. Yikes. Fiction has a cruel way of not letting up. Luckily she has a loving partner in her mate and the good news for Allie is that it takes some of the pressure off of her. A good read. Looking forward to checking out your other stories.

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Michelle Oliver
01:44 Apr 17, 2023

Thanks Wally, yes yikes indeed!

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Mary Bendickson
01:06 Apr 17, 2023

Oh, why did I suspect what square one would be when she was sick in the morning? So, not funny! Ha,Ha! PS Thought I sent a rely to your comment on my 'Trampled Dreams' but I don't see it again. Thanks for the encouragement. I did ask if I could send you more of the rest of the story. May I?

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Michelle Oliver
01:15 Apr 17, 2023

Thanks for commenting. Yeah a surprise Oops! I thought what’s one thing that would set you right back at the beginning, and well this is it! I would love to read more of your story! You can send it to my gmail. moliverwriting@gmail.com

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Mary Bendickson
01:24 Apr 17, 2023

I'll get my 'tech support' on it right away:)

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Kevin V
23:58 Apr 16, 2023

Hi Michelle, This sort of hits home for me. I know someone who is a worrier, suffers from anxiety and depression, and is prone to laying in bed crying. While Rosie may not be quite there, the portrayal feels genuine. It's not an easy thing to deal with. David is a saint! I really enjoyed their relationship, especially the scene in the kitchen with them dancing and: - “So, what are we going to do with all our spare time?” David nuzzled her neck. She playfully shrugged away. “Keep your thoughts clean, Mister!” That would probably be me (...

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Michelle Oliver
00:06 Apr 17, 2023

Thank you Kevin for picking that up. I’m still editing and funny how the brain reads what you want to it read. Will fix it. Yes in Australia, a pharmacy is called a Chemist. I wondered if I should use a more universal term, but that’s just not what we call it here. If it’s too jarring for a reader I will adjust it. I’m trying to remain true to being an Aussie but aware I am putting this out to the whole world.

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Kevin V
00:25 Apr 17, 2023

I don't think you have to change it. It's for my own knowledge. So many times early in my writing I showed ignorance in commenting because I thought only as an American (how American of me!). So I no longer assume, but wish to understand. Thank you for clarifying!

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08:59 Sep 05, 2023

https://exampledomain.com/?u=XXXXX&o=YYYYY

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V. S. Rose
00:34 Apr 26, 2023

Nice one! I'm a fan of twist endings, especially when they're well done. And I got to say, this one got me. One of the things I've been noticing with your stories is that your great at creating believable characters in real-life situations (supported by strong inner dialogue). You get into the thinking process of what runs through person's head in a particular emotional situation and can translate that to the page well. It makes the reading experience more enjoyable and believable. Anyway, maybe something to lean on with your stories.

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Cinta Aqillah
23:55 Apr 20, 2023

clara no rizz

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