"The Deadly Surprise" - Ficton, an Urban Legend or True? - You Decided

 

 

25 Days Until Halloween

Here I am again, with another goodie, sent to me by Luke in Idaho. It's up to you the reader to decided if this story is  Fiction, an Urban Legend or True? Now this story is not so much spooky as a Halloween story of nightmares, but It reminded me of what I wrote the other day, about the way people say things, like the houses that were haunted because they looked scary. Perception and the way people say things can take your way of thinking in two different extremes. Be sure to come back tomorrow to see if you guessed the correct answer to:

 

 

 

"Deadly Surprise"

 

The towns people always remarked about a home that was haunted all because of a deadly surprise. They claim to this very day, that a wife, who had passed away, walks the halls of their home waiting for her husband to celebrate their Anniversary. Here is how the story went.

 

 

It was their anniversary and she had planned a glorious dinner that had been created with his most favorite foods. She also wanted to look just as good as the day they had met, and so she had pulled her blonde hair back into a sleek bun, put on a silky short sleeveless black dress and hose that together accented her beautiful slender sun kissed skin. Her shoes were a stunning blue-gray 3" heel, her make-up, not a lot and not to little, just sheer perfection followed by the right spritz of perfume. To adorn her outfit she wore the diamond tennis bracelet that he had given her for their twenty-fifty wedding anniversary.

On this night in late November, they had been married for 32 years - years that had been good to them. They were blessed with three beautiful children, that were now grown and gone to create new life memories with their families, a beautiful home to raise them in, and a great financial foundation to see them into their retirement years - that they had planned to enjoy until death did them part.

He had been secretive, like years before when their anniversary appeared over the horizon. He would conjure different way to surprise her with a gift of gold and diamonds and a romantic evening together. This time he had not told her to hold off on any plans, which had taken her by surprise, but believed his demanding work scheduled had played interference and so, she decided it would be her turn to surprise him with dinner and a romantic evening in front of the fireplace. Everything was perfect, the table, the music, the fire - her night to surprise him was already.

Her heart jumped into her chest when she heard his truck coming up the driveay as a cool blue dusky sky blanketed them. This was indeed going to be a huge surprise. She waiting by the front door that he had always entered since the day they had moved there. She stood by the door as the clock on the wall ticked the minutes away filling the otherwise silent anticipation of the room, but the door never opened. "What's taken him so long?" she said out loud to herself. Not wanting to give her surprise away, and thinking that maybe it was her daughter coming to get some things she had left in the garage, maybe it was her husband who was coming in through the garage door because his shoes may have been muddy - but it had not rained in three days.

The suspense and endless questions began to fill her with worry and concern, and so she opened the front door and stepped out onto the covered porch. She watched for several minutes in disbelief as her husband, three unknown men, and one woman carried boxes from the garage to a U-Haul trailer attached her husbands pick-up truck, then closed the garage door. The remaining sounds were the doors of the truck opening and then closing as if they had all gotten back in. She was startled when a figure appeared in the illumination of the porch light. Their before her stood her husband with an envelope and tears in his eyes. The cold air was aggravating his contact lenses, but he never told her this, as he was not one to complain. He then stepped towards her and held her tight and simply said - "I've got to go and I'm sorry that I waited until now to tell you, but always know -  I'll love you forever." Then turned, got back into his truck with the others and drove away.

Her mind began to fill with numerous thoughts, "I'll die without you! Please come back!" She yelled out to him as she stood on the porch filling with emotion of the thought that her man of thirty-five years had chosen this day to leave her. He had been her best friend, her confidante, her lover and she always believed it would be the vow they made on the day of their wedding - till death that did them part - that would one day take them from each other.  Her heart beat began to pound forcefully in her check, her breathing felt vacant and the light that illuminated the area around her slowly grew darker. Her legs felt weak and warm as they gave way to her body falling to the floor. 

Shortly after 8:00pm, headlights coming down the driveway appeared over the horizon and the sounds of a horn honking in a random patterns announced the arrival of a guest and/or family. When the truck stopped, two men had quickly exited, one was her husband and the other a friend of his carrying a beautiful small box wrapped in elegant paper and a huge velvet bow a top and a huge flower arrangement with two-dozen red roses. As he made his way to the front door, they found the icy cold body of his wife lying on the porch, were he had last seen her standing. Her hand gripping the still unopened envelope.

Their friend could not believe what he was witnessing - she was fine when they had come to the house earlier to pick up the boxes they had packed with the materials they needed to make this Anniversary night special, but to his wife, to see her husband packing a U-Haul, and then saying to her, "I've got to go and I'm sorry that I waiting until now, but always know -  I'll love you forever", - she believed he was leaving and being overwhelmed with great sorrow, never realized the air had become dangerously cold.

"If only she had opened my letter she would have understood." said her husband now feeling the same loss that she had as she watched the truck and trailer pull away from their home and her thoughts telling her - he was leaving her.  

"What did the letter say?" questioned the friend.

"My dear wife - you probably think I have forgotten our Anniversary, but that is so far from the truth. I have planned a surprise for our Anniversary this year - but dress warm, as we'll be spending the night in a cozy cottage just on the outskirts of town. I love you always." He replied as he dropped his head and wept.

 

 

Choked Up Today and Feeling So Small.

H

ello everyone. I am sitting here today in somewhat of a daze and I’d like to share with you what transpired this week that has got me feeling this way. We all know the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, it may not be what you expect." or "Never Assume", I did not realize how strong these statements would be until I was hit with a large dose of reality, that I was so unaware of. I learned of a very horrific event that took place when my husband and his Battalion were deployed in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. I'm feeling ashamed, stupid, and I feel as large as the speck of dust on my kitchen floor. I never knew what happened in the war or what happened to my love of a lifetime and out of respect for him I must keep the details private. To sum it up in short, he faced many dangerous situations, with one being more than I ever could have imagined - he nearly lost his life. For the last 21 years only a few of his fellow Seabees knew the events that had taken place - I wish so much that I had been one of the few, but God felt that the time was not right for me. For years I would ask him, what happened in Saudi Arabia when he was there? I learned over the years, this was a question never to be asked. I realize that I was very immature with an inability to handle this information for the many years we have been married. I'd like to also think he chose not to tell me, due to all the difficulties that I had to face with battling cancer. I was a very reactive person, quick to jump without all the facts. To best describe me - honestly - I'd be the one in the plane that would say I knew all about sky diving and be the one who'd forget my parachute. Yes, that bad - I heard you wonder if I was really that bad.  I also had a pair of ears that never heard the whole story or I would engage in my selective hearing. So I completely understand why so much time had passed. "There is a time and place for everything"

I was honored and then rendered speechless when one of the men decided that I should know what truly happened and could help me understand things in a different perspective on numerous war veterans and their battles with illness long after the Gulf War.  With each word that was spoken I sank deeper and deeper into my chair feeling so guilty that I had assumed that some rocky places in our marriage had to do with a woman he had worked with years ago.  I had shared this with the caller, to which they replied, "don't worry you’re not the first to think that and how would you know what the problem truly was if nobody told you?" True, and honestly it didn't help when this same woman had been doing their best to suggest that my man had been in their lives intimately. Seriously, why do people do this type of Sh*t? Is it some kind of cheap thrill to spin a web of lies just to see people get hurt?  Well anyway, you see where this naive and clueless mind of mine was then - heading down the long dark path of bullsh*t.  How could I have been so blind?  I am told, that to admit fault is being on the right path to inner peace, healing, awareness.  I admit my flaws, I am not perfect and don’t foresee that I will ever be perfect.  Besides who really wants to be? If people were perfect, we’d be boring…right?

Did I learn a life lesson – Yes indeed, and I shared this with my husband as soon as I could.  I told him that I owed him a huge apology and expressed how small I felt and still feel. To hear what he had been through and  to hear that he never gave up the fight alongside his fellow Seabees – He is my Hero and I'm so proud of him.   I am honored and blessed to have him in my life and nobody could ever fill his boots.  That he is my best friend, my lover, my love of a lifetime, my husband and the father of our children. What a way to start our next twenty years together. I haven't seen him smile this much in years. Oh, and that twinkle in his baby blue eyes, I still melt every time he looks at me. But I can say I know how he feels to get something off his mind. I always feel like a pallet of bricks had been pushed over and my body feels as if I can fly, oh, and I smile a lot too.

So if I had to come up with a quote of life this is what it would be: This is just a draft, so go easy on me.

I have found that less is more, love like you've never loved before, that sometimes life happens with no answers, and what is past...is just that...the past - Leave it there. Be happy with whom you are and with those around you as move forward into the sunshine to deaden the darkened shadows that try to wear you down.  If only I could have been wiser in my younger years. - Stacey Bolin

Never assume anything unless you have all the facts. Never assume that what you’re told is the Gospel until you see it in stone. And the one piece of advice that my husband likes to share, with those who come up with wrong and off the wall conclusions, “Assumptions are the mother of all evil and can destroy you and the ones around you. All else fails...get the facts jack."

 Have a great day and I'll blog you later.