Pieces of Real

Pieces of real scattered the landscape of her days, jumbled among the lies, fantasies and imaginings he fed her. They were the moments when she knew with peace-shattering clarity the glaring truth of the matter. Those were the stabbing glimpses of authenticity when she knew without doubt that he did not ... and would never ... love her as she loved him. Then came the salvation of the blessed oblivion of the make-believe, the warm cocoon of habit and routine, cloaked in the comforting shroud of denial. She made the bed, descended the stairs, started the coffee and pretended it was real when he kissed her and said "Good morning, Baby".

Then when he told her of the upcoming business trip, she smiled and pretended that was real, too.

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Comment by Sandy P on March 26, 2011 at 11:27am
Great six, Tess. I could feel the heartbreak here.
Comment by Bill Floyd on March 26, 2011 at 11:25am
As the others have said, this is good writing on a fearsome subject.
Comment by Tess Dickenson on March 26, 2011 at 10:51am
Thank you ... I never fail to be humbled by the words of encouragement spoken here.  Always a fan of "The Velveteen Rabbit" I am always struggling to define 'real' ...
Comment by Toby Tucker Hecht on March 26, 2011 at 10:00am
This is fabulous writing.  It has a universal feeling; we all have been there in some way, denying what we don't want to be true, but knowing it nonetheless.  Every relationship has an imbalance, but we try to reach the equilibrium that Wallace Stegner called an "angle of repose."
Comment by Diana E. Backhouse on March 26, 2011 at 9:32am
Andrea has put into words what I felt after reading this. I also echo Sandra's 'ouch!'
Comment by Andrea Schnitzler on March 25, 2011 at 10:40pm

Beautiful words for a situation that is not beautiful. We'd like to see the character in the story stop "loving him more than he loves her."  This reader is quite sure he doesn't deserve her. 

Comment by Teresa on March 25, 2011 at 9:35pm
Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between denial and POR (pieces of real).  We fear being paranoid, rocking the boat, ending the story.  Well done.
Comment by Angela on March 25, 2011 at 6:09pm
Hard to know what is really what much of the time, harder to want to know, and you described those feelings like a smoldering poet.  Liked the tone and the language.
Comment by Sandra Davies on March 25, 2011 at 5:07pm
Ouch - this is heartbreakingly painful, and so very well and accurately expressed - 'pieces of real' the perfect phrase.

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