What a Blessing

Gregory looked out the kitchen window and poured himself a cup of tea. The morning dew glistened in the garden. Somewhere near a bird sang a lovely song. Pride glowed inside him at his perfect backyard. Everything resembled a painting. He took the cup in his hand and sipped it when he felt his wife’s hand on his shoulder. With a smile, he turned to her and kissed her cheek. Sunlight struck her golden hair and made it shimmer.

“Good morning,” she said and kissed the side of his mouth. Gregory bade her good morning. He took his cup of tea to the living room, where he liked to read. Just as he sat on the couch, his wife called from the kitchen.

“Honey, can you go upstairs and get my bible? I meant to bring it down but forgot.”

Gregory sighed and went upstairs to get it. He worried the tea might turn cold. The Bible sat on the window seal nestled against a purple throw pillow. A sunbeam rested on the cover and illuminated the word “Holy”. He snatched it and huffed.

“Always forgetting everything,” he said in a whisper. At the top of the stairs, he saw his wife take a seat on the couch. She smiled up at him as he descended and handed her the book. 

“Thank you, baby,” she said and flipped through the pages. Gregory sat down and took his music magazine in one hand and tea in the other. The first sip warmed his throat. The second warmed his soul. A small bitterness on his tongue made him smile. Gregory thought too much sugar ruined the tea.

“Better than coffee,” he said and thumbed through the magazine. His wife looked up, nodded, and then looked back to the bible. 

Silence was golden in Gregory’s household. The only sound of turning pages relaxed him on a Saturday morning. He thought maybe he might walk downtown later that afternoon. He might even work in his woodshed. Everything felt Zen. As he turned a page in his magazine, his vision blurred. He squinted and rubbed his eyes with his palm. 

“You alright, babe?” his wife asked. Gregory looked up at her and nodded.

“Probably just tired.”

 He cleared his throat and tried to read again when his vision got worse. A sudden pressure in his temples made him wince. 

“Jeez,” he said with a groan and put down his magazine. He held his head and rubbed his eyes again. His wife didn’t look up. She continued to read the bible. Gregory opened his eyes and everything spun like a tilt-a-whirl. 

His hand knocked over the almost empty cup of tea, and he tried to stand. A strong weakness fell over him and he stumbled into the armchair near the couch. 

His wife kept her eyes on the bible as if oblivious to his condition. He looked up at her and saw double of her. 

“Honey- “ he tried to speak, but she cut him off.

“Gregory, do you know what the Lord says about adultery?”

“W-What?” Gregory fell to his hands and knees and panted. His heart fluttered against his chest. Sweat formed and trickled on his brow.

“I asked if you knew what the bible says about cheating?” his wife sounded calm. An overwhelming sense of dread swept through him like a wave. 

“If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, even with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and adulteress must be put to death,” she said. This time, Gregory could see her eyes on him. Gregory fell on his face and watched as his wife stood up and walked into the kitchen. In her seat, he noticed an empty pill bottle. He heard her open and slam a drawer closed. Her voice echoed into the living room around him.

“Don’t think I didn’t know about Cynthia, Greg. I mean, it’s not like you were discrete. Those glances every Sunday. Her touching your arm as she spoke. That wretched love letter in your car.”

Gregory rolled over onto his back and watched as she approached him with a clever in her hand. Inch by feeble inch, he scooted back as his ears rang. Drool dribbled from his mouth. He felt sick.

“W-what is this?”

His wife smiled down at him and knelt.

“This is a day of reckoning, Greg.”

He tried to scream, but she stroked his hair and shushed him as he grew cold.

“Neither you nor I am above the laws of God. I must punish you for your sins.”

Just as everything faded to darkness, she raised the clever overhead and brought it down fast as lightning. 

###

Gregory’s wife sat in the church pew and listened to the priest give his sermon. To her left were Cynthia and her husband. She smiled at Cynthia and when the service was over; she strolled to her car. 

“Hey! Wait!” 

She turned and saw Cynthia trot toward her. Cynthia looked at her, puzzled, and frowned.

“Is Gregory alright? We noticed he wasn’t in church this morning,” she said. His wife smiled a toothy smile and touched Cynthia’s shoulder. Cynthia raised an eyebrow and looked from her hand up to her eyes.

“He’s fine, dear, just fine. Just a cold is all. In fact, why don’t you come over for tea later this afternoon. I would love to catch up with you,” she said and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. Cynthia adjusted her dress and hair before she nodded.

“Yeah, that would be nice. I’ll see you around three when I get lunch finished.”

His wife agreed and got into her car. In her rearview mirror, she watched Cynthia go to her husband. Cynthia looked back for a moment before she got into her husband’s car.

She hummed to herself and gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. God worked in mysterious ways. Sometimes through his flock. The rose bushes need to be trimmed today. With this new fertilizer, her flower garden would look wonderful this coming spring. What a blessing.