Together Yet Apart

1987 – TOGETHER

We used to rent a studio at the time. I often felt like Gulliver in Lilliput for the duration of our stay there. It was a small minuscule space where one could hardly move around without bumping into the other, but that’s all we could afford with Beth a full-time student and me working part-time, to make ends meet. I was a student as well, you see. But we loved the ‘bumping into’ part as we were young and full of love, newly weds. We couldn’t afford even a honeymoon then. But we had each other and our little home. We had a sofa cum twin bed that was often used as a table or an ironing board! I swear that sofa has seen more wear and tear than it could afford and still stayed intact for several years. We had no television at the time, just each other to keep company. But then that was exactly the way we wanted it. We rarely ate outside - way too expensive - but we heartily cooked and ate in the studio where it often smelt of freshly made food. The narrow kitchen was just an extension of the main living space just like the bathroom. We had a stove, fridge and a sink. Beth usually cooked even though I enjoyed cooking. It was too small a kitchen for me to twist and turn my big bulky frame. Beth used to say, “You suffer the bathroom after all, let me fix this at least” Oh yeah, the bathroom was the worst place in the studio. If our living space was small, our bathroom was microscopic. Because of my tall height, I had to bend over double to step in through the door. I was often scared to stretch my arms for worry that the walls would break. Yet even there, I have had some memorable encounters with Beth. We didn’t mind the closeness in fact we reveled in our closeness. We were wonderfully happy. Poorly happy, I would say! Oh to be ‘in love’ and ‘penniless’ is a fine thing indeed.



2000 – DRIFTING APART

Now we own a home with four thousand square feet on a two-acre lot. To be honest I feel like a Lilliputian on an alien planet. It has more room than two people would ever need; we are lucky if we ever get to see each other once a month. We are both doctors, working away our lives, getting richer and lonelier. It seems like we have forgotten to laugh, to live and just be! We make appointments to bump into each other; on the rare occasion that we sleep together on our king-size bed, we are too exhausted to notice the other. We eat out all the time, separately, very rarely together. Our gourmet kitchen has seen more caterers than us. I doubt if one of us has ever cooked there. We have had more parties than candle-lit dinners. My dream-come-true bathroom extends like the Artic, a cold reflection of reality and life. I could stretch out my arms to my heart’s content and still feel empty inside. We have drifted apart, hardly realizing the truth. I yearn for the closeness that came once easily, I wonder if Beth feels the same. When once I could read her mind with just a glance, now she feels a stranger. I am immersed in sadness. Richly sad, and I long to be poor!

A SONG

Money in plenty,
Gets you -
Funny and Sunny.
Makes you feel Richie
Rich-
Mighty and Lonely.
If you wanna be happy,
You’re better off –
No money.
For happy and money,
Does not go-

Hand in hand, my honey.

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In response to the prompt from Sunday Scribblings.

This seems appropriate for the FF Contest, note that

the picture is not my own but the result of a simple

google search.

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