Friday Flash Fiction: Shedding
The box sat on the kitchen table, she stared at it as the kettle boiled. It was plain, the address label printed with no return address visible. It was the third one to arrive this week.
She poured the water and swooshed the teabags in the cups, the brown clouds filling the water. I could open it, she thought, I could say that it was split when it arrived.
She poured the milk into the cups, resolved to use one of the knives to slice the tape on the top, when the banging in the shed stopped and her husband stepped out.
She’d missed her chance, so she watched him secure the padlock which always irritated her. Why lock it up for a tea break? There was no other way into the garden, how could anyone steal anything even if they wanted to?
He hurried up the path, arms clasped tight around his padded jacket, the tip of his nose pink. He brought a blast of cold air with him into the kitchen. He washed his hands, black with oil, briskly under the hot tap.
“Lovely, thank you mother,” he smiled as he took his cup. She smirked, the children had left home years ago and he still called her that.
“How’s the project?”
“Fine, fine,” he slurped. “What’ve you been up to?”
“Just pottering.” she watched him over the rim of her cup, his overalls were filthy. What on earth did he do in there all day? “When will it be finished?”
He saw her eyes flick to the shed. “Oh a while yet my love.”
“Are you going to tell me what you’re building?”
He smiled enigmatically and shook his head. “A true creator never reveals the work until it’s ready.”
She pursed her lips, staring at the shed. He spent hours a day in there, and there was no doubt she was banned from it. She’d heard about men and sheds, even laughed with her friends about it, but at least they knew what their husbands did in theirs. She appreciated the fact that he’d taken the early retirement badly and that he needed to keep busy, but why did he have to be so mysterious?
“That arrived earlier,” she said, pointing at the box.
His fingertips wriggled as he saw it. “Fantastic,” he beamed.
“Another part is it?” she asked. “Or a new tool?”
“Yes,” he said and gulped down the rest of the tea. “Back to work mother.”
He pecked her on the cheek, grabbed the box and hurried out again. She watched him fumble with the padlock then dive inside. The clock ticked loudly.
She didn’t notice the shed door hadn’t been shut properly until she was drying the mugs. Usually he was so careful, but the contents of the third box must have been spectacularly exciting for him to have forgotten all else. She threw on a jacket, slipped on her gardening shoes and stepped outside.
The usual banging and clanging were well underway as she sneaked down the garden path, her breath pluming in the winter air. It sounded like he was building something with gusto, and all she wanted was a peek, just a glimpse of this world-revolutionary lawn mower, or micro-light aircraft for pensioners or whatever it was that he was hammering away at. Just one peek, then she’d leave him to it until he was ready to unveil.
She sidled up to the door and peered through the crack. The first thing she saw was his overalls and padded jacket in a heap on the floor. Biting her lip, she then saw the old tape deck that had been her son’s before the CD player came along, and a stack of tapes next to it. One was labelled “drill” and another “sanding wood”. She realised that all of the hammering noises were coming out of its speakers rather than in the main part of the shed.
Now sure that something was amiss, her eyes fell upon a plastic tub of old engine oil placed just by the door, a filthy rag next to it. He’d been coating his hands before coming up to the house, to make it look like he’d been tinkering away, when the whole time he’d been…
Still not any wiser about that, she risked opening the door a touch more, revealing her husband climbing into a blue dress, already wearing what looked like a girdle and petticoat. Gob smacked, she pushed the door further open, seeing a clothes rail full of women’s clothing and a shoe rack. The latest box rested on a tiny dressing table with a wig poking out of it, and there in front of him, a full length mirror, in which her gawping mouth was reflected back.
He turned to face her, one leg in, one leg out. For a second he looked panicked, then that fell away as he finished stepping into the dress and zipped up the side. It gave her time to take it all in and finally close her fly catching mouth.
“Bernard,” she said softly, shaking her head. “What are you doing?”
He stood straight, raised his chin and looked straight at her. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen him look her in the eye like that, the last time he’d looked so at ease. His usual tension and false cheeriness were gone.
“Come up to the house you silly bugger, it’s freezing out here,” she said, as she came over and embraced him. “I’ve got a necklace that’ll set off that dress nicely.”
—
This story is dedicated to my excellent friend Jenny. I hope you like it x
Ha, brilliant! He’s really shedding an old skin, isn’t he? And I love, just love, the wife’s final reaction. Good for her, and good for him.
Wonderful loving story, Em. Excellent!
I love the way this is told. I feel genuine empathy with both characters, even before the reveal. Pacing and rhythms of speech – perfect. Nice mystery build. There was no question of jumping out of this story until I reached the end. Congrats.
If only we could all be so accepting of each other’s preferences! Lovely story, made me feel all squishy inside 🙂
Pure genius, Em! I couldn’t have stopped reading if I tried. 🙂
Hahaha! I love that he was using sound-effect tapes and all this subterfuge. The ending is fabulous. Well done!
So sweet. can we expect a compilation ‘from nice places’?
Ending left me smiling. Yes, he is shedding, and helping dress her up…
Oh I love that last line! I was worried this would be some kind of dark ‘marriage ending’ thing but…oh they’re perfect for each other!
Lovely story of hidden preference and ultimate acceptance. True love, that.
Great build up to a wonderful ending!
The lengths people will go to in order to hide themselves. Fabulous story with a great reveal.
Adam B @revhappiness
I never know what to expect when I begin each story Emma, except that they always report the human condition, and your empathy for it, so well.
Lovely ending … you could hear her love for him and acceptance.
Sweet ending and nice play on the word shed.
Oh that is such a lovely story! Really enjoyed reading it, thanks Em 🙂
“She couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen him look her in the eye like that, the last time he’d looked so at ease. His usual tension and false cheeriness were gone.”
In those two sentences you have said it all.
Thank you, Emma, I’m touched.
Awww! Very sweet Em, and surprising!
Love the story, and the ending. The wife’s comment put a big smile on my face.
“Mother” is rather wonderful to fully accept Bernard’s hobby. But why not, really! The two are perfectly endearing. My favourite bits were their tea – so well drawn, Em. And her going out to the garden shed to sneak a peek .. nice work.
Haha, fabulous! Wonderful characters and a great story, the reveal really made me smile. Now, why do I have a mental image of a microlight aircraft for pensioners stuck in my head?
Hilarious! The male shed, domain of the masculine, here hides a guilty secret. Love how he faked the signs of DIY.
marc nash
That was a smashing story, loved it! 🙂
This is so funny and really touching too. Love her acceptance of his cross dressing at the end.
My sense of dread builds until the reversal into happiness. Beautiful ending.
*applause* I love love love this and the ending. 🙂 Wonderful love story.
Ha! I love this! I was totally surprised at the end!
He thought of everything, except of course the proper necklace. Loved her reaction. Great pacing all the way through this one.
The necklace dialogue is closer to the truth than you might realise. Very astute observer of life, is Emma.
Yes…men and their sheds. Such a good change from fiddling with bits of old engines and making collapsable spice racks. I was worried he had dug a tunnel to next door and the single woman living there, so pleased he hadn’t. The great thing, for me, about your lovely story is the way you have drawn the couple: the way they have their tea, his shed, her desperate fear of opening the parcel and the way correctness prevents her from touching it,(and i’m glad she didn’t, much more fun to find out the way she does). I would love to think there were pensioner trannies all over the place having fun with their wives!
Heh, my husband would never make it that far. I open *all* the mail. 😉 Love the voices of these two. Sometimes, twist endings can seem disingenuous, but this one was really lovely. You built up the tension and paid it off in relief for both characters. Well done!
Wow, I am simply bowled over by the comments guys, thank you. Sorry it’s taken me so long to say that, I’ve been swamped by a huge client project and of course, my third book hasn’t let up its demands either.
But again, thank you, it means a lot that my little story has been enjoyed by you all xx
Oh my, I thought maybe he was an alien or serial killer or something. I liked this.