He thought about the current situation and realised he had to do something as he had overstepped the mark in his comments about her aging.

He didn’t know what had come over him, but on reflection, he knew he had insulted her, and her reaction was one he hadn’t seen before.

It required a gesture that demonstrated his remorse for truth be told he was horrified by what he had said.

He thought of getting down on one knee, but that idea as humbling as it was, was troubling as there was the real possibility of him not being able to get back up again. And that he knew would do nothing to further his efforts to say sorry.

As it was, she had banished him to the spare room telling him he could stay there and rot for all she cared. He’d never seen her so worked up. Her response to his comments made it clear he was well and truly in the doghouse.

So here he was on one knee, fearful of rising, but aware of the humility connected with the gesture, a bunch of flowers in hand and his best sincere voice in play.

She was at her sewing machine making clothes for the grandkids who were due to visit in the next week.

He’d entered her space aware of her feelings about being interrupted, she didn’t like it at all under even pleasant circumstances, and on this occasion, there was the distinct possibility of receiving a good dose of her anger, as she hadn’t spoken to him in several days.

He laid himself at her mercy, making it clear how sorry he was for hurting her and acknowledging his wrongdoing.

It was a first for both of them. They had never before traded insults at each other, and the incident had served to make them aware of how fragile they both were.

She stopped working, listened to him and when he finished let him know how much she had been hurt, but it wasn’t anger, she displayed but a sadness that such an incident had occurred.

She took his flowers and helped him up onto his feet for which he was very grateful, as he knew he couldn’t have done it on his own.

“We are both getting old,” she said to him, “neither of us look as good as we did twenty years ago, we have to be kind to each other for life’s getting shorter, and we shouldn’t be wasting it by all this silliness. Now make me a cup of tea and let’s watch that show we spoke about the other day, the one about the wife killing the husband, better to watch it than be the one’s doing it.”

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/tale-weaver-285-forgiveness-july-23rd/