4 Women

The Beer: A Red Wheat IPA is kegged and pretty much ready.  Now I have to get my beer fridge up and running.

The Bicycle:  At some point, I will have to start riding again.  It really needs to be soon.

The VRWC:  This is a one-off posting.  An observation of human frailty rather than political opinion.

They had been married nearly 10 years.  He tried to tell her, but she never really seemed to understand.  He was always willing to put her needs first, but it rarely seemed that she cared about his most important needs.  After a time, he began to question if it was him she loved or if she loved the idea of being "married", being a "wife", having a "husband".

Childhood sweethearts, they had been married nearly 40 years.  The cancer not only killed him and emptied their bank accounts, it emptied her heart and soul.  At 58, she was still beautiful.  Rubenesque and red-haired, just beginning to show some gray.  She was aloof, sometimes to the point of cold until she reached her lover's bed.  Then she became a tender and caring partner, attentive and accepting, needing and giving.  But her true lover was in her mind.  It was the memory of him and his touch, his desire, his heart and soul.

At 40, she was widowed 10 years already.  In that time she had also lost a child.  She kept herself occupied by volunteering as well as working and being "mom" to the neighborhood.  She met her lover at the pool table over a couple beers.  He whispered in her ear, "Come home with me."   They were both lonely for human contact and this met their need.  She thought he was "sexy" and he saw a beauty behind the stress and weariness.  They shared each others bed for a time.  When it came time to part, she said, "It's ok."

His abuse sucked the life out of her.  She lost the will to live for a time.  When she finally left him, he continued to torment her.  He allowed the house to go to foreclosure, he destroyed the things she loved.  He tried to turn their son against her.  When she found a lover, he wished him dead.  He hit her. Her lover adored her.  She left her life behind and came to live with her lover.  Her lover told her she was beautiful, she was smart, she was funny.  They were completely open with each other, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Their bed was a playground.  Their lives became instantly entwined.

Of course, this is all a work of fiction.