#FOWC – Tantrum

Morning all :O) There are quite a few challenges and prompts circulating WordPress at the moment so I thought I’d take up the gauntlet and give one a go. Here you have it then, my first attempt at Fandango’s one word challenge; today’s word is ‘tantrum’…….

She is 28 years old and she stands before her husband, a rich and powerful man, 10 years her senior, with a look of defiance on her face. Her knees are weak with fear but she will be damned if she’ll give in to this bully that she married; she lifts her chin and prays her voice will sound strong…..

“What exactly are you accusing me of now?”

 She’s tired of his temper, his pettiness, all the things he does to hack away at her self-esteem. A few weeks ago he was all over her, showering her with presents and now this; she wished she could just divorce him and be done with it all.

“You know what! You cheated on me, you slept with another man; more than one!”

Her husband roars her, his spit hitting her face with the force of his words. He is determined to break her this time, bend her to his will

Despite her disgust, she does not flinch. The accusation is entirely without merit, he knows and and she knows it but rather than simply deny it she says quietly

“Prove it!”

“You’ve been seen. People have told me”

His face is red with anger and he gesticulates wildly as if to indicate her accusers. Why can’t she just admit that it’s all her fault, he asks himself; the new woman he’d been seeing didn’t get on at him like this. He’d made sure that she knew who was boss right from the start. The thought of her surrender brought a faint smile to his lips…

‘He’s mocking me’ she thought and the spark of her anger ignited

“Your so-called friends you mean? The ones who’ve been lining their pockets by sucking up to you and pandering to your ridiculous vanity?”

She’s almost laughing at him now, knowing that she’s touched a nerve.

“They showed me something that one of them wrote to you, a little love letter”

He says it in a sing song voice but his eyes are cold and it takes everything she has not to back away from him.

“So someone writes me a love letter and suddenly I’m guilty? Oh grow up!”

He raises his fist and she’s sure that he’s going to hit her, she can’t help but shy away, he’s completely lost control.

“You’re a whore and you will pay”

The venom in his voice poisons any little hope that she had remaining……

Several days later, as Anne laid her weary head on the block, she wondered at the absurdity of losing her head because her husband had lost his; it had really been nothing more than a royal tantrum…..

Lisa

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