My Second Marriage

1.

Hal is a tall man. He has long fingers. He sits next to Sally. Sally is a slim girl. She has long hair and she laughs like she is a kitten. Hal and Sally sit on a LoveSeat. Their knees touch. Hal thinks Sally has beautiful arms. I am going to ask her to hold my hand, Hal thinks.

“Will you marry me?” He asks instead. Hal thinks he might have wanted to ask Sally something else. He is nervous and his stomach is like an empty ship that weighs as much as a city. Cities are heavy, Hal thinks.

Sally looks at Hal. Hal is sweating. “Yes.” She says. She touches Hal’s leg. She puts her nose into his arm and he can tell that she is smiling. She starts to laugh like a kitten. I am going to have to make her round now, he thinks. She is going to want me to make her round, he thinks. His forehead starts to sweat.

2.

Hal and Sally buy a house that has three stories and a basement. The windows on the house are like giant eyes. Hal thinks the house looks like an insect. He huddles under his shoulders and sulks. Sally walks into the house and does not look at Hal. She wears a yellow sun dress and she glows.

Of course she glows, Hal thinks. He walks into the basement where it is dark. The previous owner did not clean out the basement. Hal finds an old chair and sits in the chair. There is no light in the basement. He can hear Sally walk on the wooden floors.

Then he hears her climbs the stairs. She will want this room to have twins, he thinks. She will want that room to be a studio. He shakes his head and buries his chin into his chest. Soon, he is asleep.

3.

Hal is awake and his twin daughters are on the bed. One of his twin daughter’s looks like a little plastic doll. She has round eyes that stick out of her head. When she laughs she sounds like a baby monster. Hal thinks that he might have to smother her.

The other twin does not laugh. The other twin looks at Hal and stares and Hal begins to sweat. I might have to smother her too, Hal thinks. I don’t want to kill my daughters, Hal thinks. He retreats to the basement and frets.

Sally cuddles the twins and carries them to the store. She holds the twins under her arms. The twins make little sounds, Cu-cu-cu. Sally smiles and wears her yellow sun dress. It is already spring and the big house with giant eyes is surrounded by greens and violets.

4.

It is winter and the twins are home and married and both of them are round. They have married doctors and the doctors wear white coats and smoke pipes on the balcony. The doctors call Hal father. Hal looks at his watch and wonders when he can go into the basement.

“Congratulations.” Hal says to the doctors.
“Thank you.” The doctors say.

The women are in the kitchen and there is snow on the lawn. Sally laughs. She has wrinkles on her neck. The daughters rub their bellies. Hal looks at the two men in front of him. They have good posture.

“I only wanted to hold her hand.” He says and walks inside.


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