Martha the Shrew

Was going through one of my writing notebooks and came across this little story.

     Martha had always been an old shrew.  Even when she was young, she had the personality of a belligerent old hag.  Now she was lying in a hospital bed, dying of lung cancer from a life submerged in a fog of cigarette smoke.  And no one was there by her side.  She would never admit it, but the reason she was dying a friendless old maid was her own damn fault.

     She had never been kind or treated a man with any miniscule form of decency.  She had verbally beat down any acquaintances she had until they no longer wanted to hear her hurtful nagging and critiques.  Her family despised her for every one of her hateful shenanigans.  Her only friend had been an ill-tempered cat as bitchy as herself, and that creature had long since entered the gates of Hell.

     Martha felt something as she lay there she had never felt before, a sense of longing, and she had never longed for anything before.  But at that moment, she wished that ill-tempered cat was by her side, lying on the bed having one of those rare moments when she purred.  And Martha wanted to run her fingers through that cat’s long white fur one last time, so she wouldn’t feel so alone in these last moments.

Reviews

[Mike Mielke]

Martha is a woman that countless people can relate to, and a good reminder that we should be kind to others. If we do not, no one will be there for us and our lives will be lonely. Humans are inherently social beings and no matter if we are introverted or extroverted, being social allows our minds to grow and society to thrive.