Friday, March 11, 2011

Red Shoes ~ #fridayflash

Photo: http://www.datarec.webland.pl/

“Could I have another blanket, please?” 
Through the steel bars of the jail cell, Darla could see a chair piled with six or seven folded blankets. A janitor was sweeping the floor in front of her.
He didn’t even look at her, just kept sweeping. 
“You think this is a hotel?” he said.
“No,” said Darla in a small voice. “I’m sorry. I’m just so cold.”
“We need these for other detainees,” he said. “Only one per customer.” He pushed the broom down the corridor, out of Darla’s sight. As far as she could tell, she was the only person locked up in the police station’s holding cell on this winter night.
She lay down on the hard cot and curled up in a ball. She pulled the singular blanket allotment up to her chin and started to cry again. 
She had been crying most of the night. The only time she stopped was when she drifted into a restless sleep. Blessed sleep, thin as the blanket wrapped around her shaking shoulders. She’d drift off, literally crying herself to sleep, then wake abruptly to the tearful realization that she was still locked up.
“I don’t belong here,” she cried. 
Never having been in trouble in her life, she was now in jail, wearing her pink flannel pajamas, the ones with the little puppies all over them. They’d been a Christmas gift from her husband. He gave his girlfriend a nice watch; he gave his wife pajamas. 
Darla found out about the girlfriend a few hours ago, following a dinner of pork chops, green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. After doing up the dishes, she had changed into her new pink pajamas and stretched out on the couch to watch Jeopardy. During a commercial break Karl came into the living room and announced he had fallen in love with Frankie-Sue at the bowling alley and was leaving. Instead of kissing him good bye she whacked him with the frying pan that was drip drying in the dish rack. Blood flew. He fell to the ground in a silent heap.
Afraid she had killed him, Darla called 9-1-1 and, when an ambulance showed up, so did the cops. Karl roused around and went off in the ambulance with a goose egg. Darla was handcuffed and went off to jail in the back of a police cruiser.
This was not how she had envisaged her life. She thought back to her wedding day when her life held such promise. Karl, handsome in his tuxedo, holding her hand, holding her heart, looking at her with undiluted love in his liquid eyes.
She wished she could go back to that day and warn the blushing bride what lay ahead. 
She wished she had never met Karl. 
Tears puddled on the coarse cotton sheet as exhaustion carried the troubled woman into a troubled sleep.
She dreamed of red shoes.

27 comments:

  1. Real life Cathy, you write the real things. So sad,"Blessed sleep, thin as the blanket wrapped around her", ache-inducing imagery. Well done, comme toujours!

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  2. I am shivering right alongside Darla. You create such vivid scenes with such ease.

    Also, how heart-breaking the tiny cruelties people play on each other, just because they can. Something so simple as that blanket. The janitor, in a position of power, judgmental because Darla is on the wrong side of the bars and he's probably feeling righteous in not giving her another blanket.

    I think that broke my heart more than her husband cheating.

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  3. Life and the places it takes you.. contrary to how you imagine it or try to steer it in a particular direction. This one hits a bit close right now. No, I'm not in jail. But I want an extra blanket and I want to sleep so I can forget. You write about real life in a way I can often relate to and you write funny funny stories that make me laugh out loud. I am a big fan.

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  4. This was such a sad little story...I wouldn't do well in jail. I feel sorry for the girl...maybe she will get out in the morning.

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  5. I always need two comforters in the winter. Plus a hot water bottle!

    Loved this: "...looking at her with undiluted love in his liquid eyes."

    Poor Darla.

    Wonderful flash, despite all the teeth pulling you did to get it to us.

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  6. Oh Cathy, this is so, so sad, and all too real. Now you're going to have to quickly write one about Mabel to turn my tears into ones of laughter.

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  7. Poor Darla! That janitor is overly cruel with someone who killed her husband by accident.

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  8. I wonder if she'd hit him again given the chance.

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  9. "Blessed sleep, thin as the blanket wrapped around her shaking shoulders." I love this line. Haunting and heartbreaking.

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  10. I love that Darla left a goose egg on her cheating husband's head with a frying pan.:) That cold janitor needed a whack with the skillet too. Her discomfort, frustration, betrayal, anger and weariness are all right there and the last two lines just kill. Really excellent flash Cathy!

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  11. Raven - not only would she hit him, she'd hit him HARD. Hey, if you're going to jail, it should be for something good!

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  12. Thanks for all the wonderful comments, you guys. Means a lot....

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  13. Great job, Cathy… I'm with Harry. You nailed pretty much all of it: the cheating spouse, the loss of temper, the supercilious janitor, and the society that punishes the victims.

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  14. uuuugh. that hit me right in the stomach. what great writing!!!

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  15. So vivid and telling, Cathy... You spin such great yarns... Oh, and I love the new banner. Super cute...

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  16. Sleep thin like the blanket - great line!
    Poor Darla.

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  17. This piece made me grab a blanket. Very well done! And her hubby had it coming. Hit him again, I say.

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  18. Nicely written Cathy, very believable too. Although it's not a comedy, I couldn't help but laugh at the line,

    "Instead of kissing him goodbye she whacked him with the frying pan."

    Just what he needed, maybe if the poor girl finds time she can take the frying pan down to the bowling alley and dish one out there too.

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  19. I loved this. I hung onto every single word, every single detail. Poor Darla.

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  20. We were fortunate to have the Red Cross here last week. Plenty of blankets, if not nearly enough heat. Reminds one to remain kind and become the sort of person who doesn't skimp on the needy.

    You had me curious about those detainees...

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  21. What a sad tale. Though one that has played out many times, I'm sure. Now do a sequel...where she picks herself up and turns her life around. Or gets out and hunt down her and finishes the job.

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  22. This is so vivid and gritty. The juxtaposition of pink PJs with puppies in a cold and heartless jail cell is terrific. I really feel for her, and hope Karl sees double the rest of his life. A really excellent piece of work here, Cathy.
    ~jon

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  23. Oh, no! I was so into it-- I want to know what happens next! Does the snake husband press charges? Does he leave her or do they go to counseling and work it out? Does the mean janitor turn out to be a nice guy and they fall in love? I'd love to find out, and I'm upset that I'll never know! :)

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  24. Remarkable focus on the little things that make the story stand out so well - the blanket, the frying pan.
    Adam B @revhappiness

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  25. Would those be the Judy Garland kind of red shoes? The kind to get her away from all these sadistic men? Well I'm dreaming of them for her, too. As always, love your details Cathy.

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  26. I thought her dreaming of red shoes was a very nice touch - mysterious, but in a very pleasing, poetic way. Then I read your labels and saw what you meant the red shoes to symbolize. Either way, nice touch.

    The cute pajamas in a grim setting is pure Cathy Webster!

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  27. I don't know why but the pyjamas really stood out - such a cute, almost little-girl kind of feel, like Darla is still a girl trapped in a woman's body, and now she's trapped in an adult setting. Hope she gets out.

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