Exercise #2: Imperative: 2 am

Short story made up of imperative commands.

505 words

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Wake up to her demand that you to check out what’s going on outside the bedroom as the Rottweiler’s barks imply that there aren’t only human intruders in the house, but also some intergalactic creatures that cause the present outrage.  And after you’ve concluded that the dog just saw shadows of cats, go back to the bedroom, sit by the end of the bed and look at her.  Light a cigarette, you are not sleepy.  In fact, you haven’t been sleeping.  No, do not scratch your head, nor feel like you’re some push–over-amateur losing his masculinity.  Instead, look at your fingers and remind yourself that you are til’ death bonded to this beauty and that everything that you do shouldn’t  merely be just out of obligation but out of love that was ordained by god.    Never mind that she reminds you that the two of you are good as dead with each other and that being with her is your daily dose of silent but deadly torture.  You know for a fact that she was a very loving woman who had a good, free spirited heart;  very talented- in fact as a former theater actress, she has always been the glow and the only glory of the show.   Remind yourself that you have to convince the ‘responsible you’ that after seven years of marriage, you have been an excellent provider to the family, working as a corporate whore, and that even if you try to pleasure yourself with your secretary, you still want to serve her best not only in bed but also on the kitchen floor if she would want it.  That you are trying to make her happy by being there for her and you want to tell her everyday that it’s going to be alright, that you are still the marvelous personalities, the golden couple the city could ever have even if you haven’t been permitted to live the life you dreamed of.   You know this is somehow your fault because no matter how much you romanticize, you think those dreams are immature- the dream to resign from the real life. So repress your and her essence, and deny yourselves the right to go against the dictates of the society.  To be different.  To fulfill your life mission to do something that you were always meant to do, like perhaps write, sing or act.  Anything else except be clones of the regular people of the society.  Instead, stay to be like the other couples in their late 20’s or 30’s who decide to marry and have a house somewhere in the city just because they want the future to be settled.  Consequently, be miserable with the 24 hour work to feed the baby you made because it’s the only thing that makes you feel like a man now.

Now, look at her again and remind yourself that it’s you who decided to cause the despair and the emptiness of the house you’ve worked hard for.  Then, try to sleep. Beside her.