A Short Story from a Random Picture

After throwing a trainer across the room, narrowly missing Andy's head in the process, Genna picks up her jacket and flies out of the country cottage, slamming the door behind her.

It's mid-November and the harsh cold air is causing her angry tears to string on her face. She brushes them aside as she struggles to march up a steep hill and with her breathing becomes heavier and uncomfortable, she stops to rest. As Andy is briskly walking towards her, he once more hits the nerve that has been causing her problems for some time. Just looking at him made her want to bring up all the hurt from the last year.

"It's always the same...you think you are always right and nothing I say will ever be good enough. I don't know why I bother. If I am such a bad wife, how come you eat the food that I put on the table, live under the roof that I manage all the bills for and... and," She stops as she searches for her next set of words, "allow me to do BLOODY EVERYTHING!" Genna turns around sharp as she angrily attempts to stride up the hill once more.

“You do everything…you? Well, let's just have a look at this, shall we? You work 30 hours a week, chasing invoices and stuff. I work that best part of 60 hours doing manual labour, and YOU’RE the victim of some made up slavery. You want to do my job, then you’ll know what everything is."

"Oh, here we go, why don’t you beat your chest, just so the entire population of Wales knows that you are the Alpha Male. Idiot."

Andy shakes his head. "You’re deluded."

"I’m deluded, yes I probably am, for MARRYING YOU! I think it is time now to just admit defeat. Maybe we should just get that divorce."

He looks up at his defiant wife and with a tear in his eye, he agrees. "I think for the first time in a while, you are probably right."

They look at each other with a rising anger until they hear a distressed noise coming from the pond below. Andy hurry’s back down the hill and to the pond where he finds a duck tangled in some net. He quickly jumps in the shallow water and tries to untangle the webbed foot.

"Well, don’t just stand there, Genna, get in."

She folds her arms. "Not while you talk to me like that. Who do you think…"

In frustration, he cuts her off in mid-sentence. "Genna, do you want this duck to die? I can’t hold it and free its leg on my own."

In annoyance, she wades into the water. Andy smirks as the duck splashes water on her face.

After a good 10 minutes, the duck wriggled free, leaving Andy and Genna to rush back to the cottage to get into some dry clothes.

Luckily Andy had already lit the log fire and the cottage was warm. Genna made some hot chocolate in an attempt to make peace, but Andy was deep in thought.

"Maybe you’re right now, Genna. We have tried all year and it is just not working."

Genna’s eyes fill with tears as she nods her head. "I wish someone or something could just give us a sign of what we should be doing here."

Outside, they could hear a flapping noise.

"What is that?" Andy placed his mug on the wooden table that sat beside him and walked to the door. As he peered out he laughed, then whispered, "Genna, come look at this."

They both poked their heads around the door to see the same duck from earlier, shaking his leg as if he still had the sensation of it still being trapped.

"He’s shaking it off." Andy laughed.

"That’s it... Andy, that’s the sign. We shake it off and we try again. That’s it, the sign."

Andy looked at Genna and then nodded. "Like water off a duck's back?"

"Well, not quite…"

He didn’t let her finish her sentence as he cupped her face and kissed her. He rested his forehead against hers before he gently kissed her temple.

"I love you Genna, let’s just keep trying."

"Ok…let’s do it."