A glimpse into the future

I filled the duration of the drive with anecdotes and stories of my lonely twenty remaining days in the ice, but kept it carefully neutral seeing that Frances twitched far too often to my taste. Unfortunately, my perceptive wife wasn’t about to let it go, not now, nor ever.

I passed the threshold of my own house with such relief that I nearly melted into a puddle. Tears weren’t so far away either, and Frances dragged me to bed without a word, her little hand pulling me along. I followed like a puppet, sitting on the edge as she removed my shoes and the rest of my clothes gently. A wife taking care of her warrior husband. At last, I dragged myself below the covers, naked, and she settled beside me. Despite the monstrous desire to grill a cigarette, I couldn’t bring myself to move from the bed.