This piece was written for the Six Sentence Challenge, with the prompt word of ‘exchange’.
Stop me if you’ve heard this but there’s this woman who’s dumped her gaslighting partner and exchanged him for a new bloke she’s pretty keen on.
Being a modern liberated woman, she decides to take the initiative and says to him (bold as brass) “I think we should move in together and I want a life commitment.”
And the bloke goes, “Nah, those things are always breakin’ down and they cost too much to repair.”
So the woman goes, “So why don’t we build a better one then, one with lots of spare love, a big, beautiful bed and no boredom allowed?”
And the bloke thinks for a while then goes, “Alright, alright, but there’s a few conditions.”
So she listens and she listens and she listens,
and then she goes, she goes,
she goes
away.
Six Crooked Highways 
It’s generally good to get these things cleared up before the big move.
Well played, Bloke. Well. Played.
Good one, Doug!
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Thanks, Liz. And here was I thinking that most folk would be cheering on the woman. 😉
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We really are from different planets, aren’t we, men and women?
Nice one Doug – you could have saved that guy the trouble of writing a whole book about it.
Love the conversational tone – it’s the first time I’ve heard one of your stories in my head with an Australian accent. And the layout on the page too.
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Message from Mars: Many thanks, Jenne. You know, it’s funny; I hear that same voice in my head when I write. 🙂
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Love it! The “goes” were bugging me until they paid off in the end. 🙂
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Thanks, Janis. ‘Goes’ is very common vernacular for ‘says’ here in Aus. Here’s a vintage clip from comedy character Kylie Mole to illustrate. https://youtu.be/Vnuf9-zgdyw
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Here also, mostly among younger people. But, like I said, I liked what you did with it!
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Good advice, Doug? Get away!
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Haha… the perfect way to say ‘no’ without a fight.
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Many thanks, Bernadette.
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Love the last word 🙂
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Thanks, Reena. 🙂
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If only they told us this when we were young, there’d be a lot fewer marriages that end in disaster!
Expertly side-stepped, mon brave!
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Thanks, CE. I hae me doots that young people ever listen to the wisdom of those gone before. 😉
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Nae chance, auld yin!
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I like your story … all of your stories.
I feel like I’m old-fashioned or maybe odd. My first date with my husband was New Year’s Day. Six months later we were married. No discussion of “let’s try this out.” Celebrated our 50th last month.
Or maybe I’m just lucky. 🙂
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Many thanks, ladysighs. I’m glad you enjoy my work. And yes, I think you probably did win the lottery. 🙂
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Thinking she’s more liberated at the end of this than the beginning.
A fine telling, accent and all.
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Thanks, D. I’ve been fascinated by the various takes readers have on this tale. Goes to show that what you think are conveying sometimes bears little resemblance to what your audience is hearing. (More spookily, maybe sometimes you don’t even understand what you’re writing). As if writing wasn’t hard enough. 🙂
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advance prep and agreement are always best. this is good stuff
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Thanks, UP
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No work at the start, no work at the end, either.
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Hilarious! She made the right move in going away 🙂
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She did indeed. 🙂
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😊
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You better run, once “conditions” are brought up. Imo, she dodged a bullet, Doug!
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And then some. 🙂
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Good thing they had a chat beforehand, otherwise there would have been a lot of wasted years (if they were lucky enough) and heartbreak for sure.
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Nailed it. 🙂
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