This week, we have to write a short story about 1-3 pages long. Here's my story.
Karen Pops Her
Cherry
“Oh
good Lord, this feels great!” Karen moaned. She was sure that the Almighty
wouldn’t mind her using His name in vain just this once.
She
heard Steve laugh from above. Then he nuzzled her neck. He smelled so damn
good. The February sun streaked through the blinds and formed bright strips
across their entwined bodies.
Until
recently, Karen had vocally dismissed this kind of behavior as “impure”. As the
only child of Catholic parents who were unaware that there had been a sexual
revolution, she was taught that losing her virginity was only permitted on her
wedding night.
“No one wants to
use a dirty napkin,” her mother would admonish.
Karen had lodged
that chestnut into her heart, unlike the vast majority of her peers at Our Lady
of the Rosary School for Girls. During college, her friends tried to get her drunk
enough to give Joey Primanti a hand job, but even while intoxicated, Karen held
firmly to her belief that “good girls” didn’t do “that”. Her Prince Charming would appreciate the fact that she had saved
herself for her wedding night. At least
she wouldn’t have chlamydorrhea or
whatever it was.
Yet year after
year, men by the dozens had slowly backed away when they found out Karen was
intent on being a virgin until marriage. On her 40th birthday, she
found herself on the floor, alone and crying in the kitchen, hugging a box of
cheap Chardonnay. She had played the role of the consummate “good girl.” Wasn’t
she supposed to be married to her knight in shining armor by now, reveling in his
admiration for her sexual repression and living happily ever after? It seemed,
as the Magic 8-ball would say, “Very doubtful.”
Karen had met
Steve at Bungalow’s while playing pool last week. He had reached behind her for
his beer and her body buzzed as he flirtatiously caressed her waist. They exchanged
numbers that night, but Karen went home alone.
“I WANT YOU NOW!”
Steve had texted a few days later.
“How about Sunday?
After brunch,” Karen texted back.
She didn’t tell
Steve that she was a virgin. Given how ephemeral their attraction was, it seemed
unnecessary. Karen realized that she wouldn’t mind if Steve never called her
again. In fact, she hoped he wouldn’t. No need to get attached. Her life was no
longer a fairy tale and there were no expectations of a fairy tale ending.
She didn’t go to
Steve’s house to lose her virginity. Karen just wanted to feel fully alive,
even if it meant going to Hell. Of course, after 40-plus years of celibacy, the
concept of Hell started to seem more appealing than the consequences of
marinating in loneliness. In any case, Karen had concluded that Prince Charming
was a unicorn; a mythical creature that people would swear existed but no one
had ever actually seen.
She yawned and
stretched out in the bed while Steve picked up the comforter, which rested in a
tangled heap on the floor, and wrapped it around them. After a short nap, Karen
kissed his chest and climbed over him. He watched, as she got dressed, then pulled
her down to the bed and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
“If you don’t mind,
just make sure the door is locked after you leave.” Steve pulled the comforter
over his chest and rolled over.
As
Karen stepped outside onto the landing, a snowy chill nipped her flushed
cheeks. She remembered Dr. Wong’s puzzled expression during her physical exam
last month. The doctor had given Karen a prescription to get an ultrasound.
“Don’t
worry,” Dr. Wong had smiled. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
The
follow up CT scan had shown a metastatic ovarian tumor had taken over the better part of her abdominal cavity.
“Six to eight months…
hospice… ” She heard someone say.
As
she walked out of Steve’s complex, Karen looked wistfully at an older couple
holding hands, but she figured it was too late to regret what she did with her
life and too early to mourn what she hadn’t. The only feeling she could muster
that wintery afternoon was gratitude.
