Cuddle Day

Cuddle Day

"Dear! What are you doing?" Mary's words exploded with shock, almost anger, as she pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Relax Dear. I'm just getting out of bed. Jonathan called last night, and he wants to go hunting this morning. We need to leave pretty early if we're going to get a turkey for dinner this evening. You know we always like fresh Turkey for our Holiday dinner. Oh man, fresh turkey with all the dressings, that sounds great." Tim's grin spread as he inhaled through his nose. Then he scurried across the cold floor toward the bathroom on his tiptoes, stopping only to pull some underwear from the dresser drawer, and then quickly disappeared through the curtain of darkness that draped across the opened doorway.

A dim light suddenly shot through the darkened doorway, slicing the rectangular shadow into two right triangles, one a subtle yellow glow, and the other a black, empty portal to where only the Devil knows. As Tim entered the bathroom between her and the light's source, the glowing triangle wavered.

Mary rolled to her side with a grunt, but a few moments later, she slammed her fist into her pillow, gritted her teeth, sat up, and screamed. "You asshole!"

Minutes passed in silence, then Tim's head cautiously crept its way into the triangle of light in the doorway to the bathroom. "Did you say something, Darling?"

"Yes, I said something! And I'll be glad to repeat it. You are an asshole." Her words shot through the darkness in search of their target.

Tim slowly withdrew his face from the light, backing into the dark recesses of the bathroom's shadows. "Is there something wrong--Dear?"

"Yes, there's something wrong! You've forgotten the meaning of this Holiday, haven't you? Oh, don't answer that, you male idiot. We've been married long enough for me to know the answer." Mary slowly slumped back into a laying position, "You men never remember the actual reason for any holiday. For you, it's just a day off of work, a good meal, maybe some presents, depending on which Holiday."

"I'm sorry, Dear. I swear, tomorrow morning, I'll make an appointment with Doc Jennings and get that fixed." Tim said between brushing and gargling.

"And how the hell is she going to fix you being an asshole?" Mary replied.

"Well," Tim continued, "A little snip here, a little snip there, and I'm not a man anymore."

"You got that right you, you ass--" Mary kicked her feet under the sheet. "They would have to be little snips, but you're a big asshole," she said under her breath. She pulled the covers up to her chin, then rolled onto "her" side of the bed, facing away from "his" side.

Several minutes passed with Tim's breaking voice attempting to sing a song between gurgles and gargles. Steam crawled through the bathroom's doorway into the bedroom. Mary's anger had simmered into disappointment with her mind, drifting to memories of the early days of their marriage. That was when this Holiday was a day they laid in bed all day and made love. She didn't expect that, but a little affection, attention at least, would be enough. This day had always been their day. Mary knew it was everyone's day to celebrate, but she was a romantic. She came to expect the attention, and now, that attention had been forgotten and replaced with a "hunting trip."

Tim stepped through the bathroom doorway, holding a towel around his waist with his left hand and a phone in the other hand. "Yeah, yeah, Jonathan, you know I'm not available today. You and the other assholes can hunt for a Turkey. Me? I'm staying right here." Jonathan dropped the towel and crawled into the bed on Mary's side. Mary's eyes went wide, almost as wide as her smile as Jonathan slipped between the sheets. Jonathan dropped the phone on the floor, pulled Mary into his arms and said, "I know where I'm supposed to be on Cuddle Day. I'm no fool."

They stayed in bed all day, all night, and Jonathan called into work the next morning, "Yeah, this is Jonathan Morell, and I'm really not feeling like coming into work today." He stopped speaking and listened for a moment. "Yeah, too much celebrating yesterday. Yeah, I'll be in bright and early tomorrow. Thanks." He rolled over, searched Mary's eyes, and said, "Now, where were we?"

"National Cuddle Day. It's the Holiday that can be on any day--or even--every day."

THE END

755 words