The Mudflats

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good episode of Mudflats Theatre.  This one’s a romance, although I don’t know if it’s a good “date night” movie.

The scene opens in the bedroom. (I promise, this is rated G….well….PG)

We see a couple in bed.  They are wrapped in a sheet.  She’s nestled in the crook of his arm.  The scene seems peaceful, and we understand immediately that there is a bond between these two lovers.  There is a story here.

“Mmmmm.  What are you thinking?” she asks, in a sort of dreamy soothing voice.

“Oh…I don’t know.  It’s nothing.”  He stares at the ceiling.

She props up on one elbow and gazes in his smoldering yellow eyes.  “It’s something.  Tell me.  What?”

“Well, it’s just that I never thought I’d be back here with you, you know, like this.  It just seems so unlikely.  I mean after all we’ve been through…I just thought…”

“Life is funny, isn’t it?” she smiles.

“Hold on, I need to flip the pillow.  Damn.”  As he lifts his head, we notice that the indentation on the pillow is slightly discolored and is actually beginning to smoke.  He blows on it, like you would a cup of tea, and flips it to the cool side.  She seems to sense what he will ask next, and hops up to open a window.

“I forgot about that,” she giggles.

“And sometimes I just wonder why.  I mean, let’s face it,  you could have anyone you want, so I just ask myself…why me?  I mean, I know you have this thing coming up and you kind of need someone to go with you so you can look good, and I can do that for you…”

“You mean 2012?”  Her eyes flash.

“Yeah… 2012.”  He looks away, not sure if he’s really put his hoof in his mouth this time.

She reaches over and touches his jaw. She gently turns his face toward hers.  “You just said yourself I could have anyone I want, right?  Well, I want you.”  As she says the word “you,” she touches the end of his nose with her fingertip, and follows up with a quick playful kiss.

He  looks consoled, but is obviously still a little incredulous.

“Do you mind if I smoke?”  She hands him a pack of cigarettes from the night table.  He pulls one out and puts it in his mouth where it immediately ignites.  “It’s just after everything…you know.  When I trashed your house with all that horrible toxic crap and your kids got really sick…”  He exhales and watches the smoke rings drift upward.

“You said that was an accident.”

“I know, but I didn’t do a very good job cleaning it up, and then I kind of left it for you to deal with and took off.   And when I kept promising you I’d get a job and make some money, and then I never did and when you put the pressure on, I took you to court?”

“Oh, sweetie…”  She runs her fingers through his hair and strokes his temple with her thumb.  “That’s all in the past.”

“And then I kind of abused your kids pretty bad.  I think they’re still pretty scarred by the whole thing.”

She puts a finger to his lips.  “Shh shh shhhh….”

He is obviously still agitated.  “I mean I just can believe that you would take me back after that…”

“Honey, look.  You gave them some money, right?”

“I know, but I dragged it out for years, and kept using the courts to lower the settlement. Don’t you remember that?”

She rolls over and stares at the ceiling for a while in silence.  “It’s going to be difficult for us to move forward together if you keep bringing all this stuff up.”

“OK….I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.  I promise never to bring it up again.”  He makes the “cross my heart” symbol on his red scaly chest, even though no heart resides in it.

She smiles. “We can talk this all through and iron out the details if you want.”

“Forget the details,” he says.  “We can work all that out later after we tell the kids.  But first, I have one more question,”  he says with a devilish twinkle in his eye.

She returns his flirtation.  “What is it?”

“Wanna be spoons?”

They lock eyes.  He crumples out the cigarette in the palm of his hand and flicks the butt on the floor.   They snuggle up under the covers, and Exxon reaches over with long red fingers, and turns off the light.