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Anthology:
A Collections of Flowers
by Shiva Anthology: A Collection of Flowers Home |
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A Wife To Straighten Me Out. Bill lived alone outside Wickenburg, Arizona. His small cabin was located about eight miles up a dirt road nestled in a quiet canyon among the sagebrush and pinion trees. Sometimes the loneliness got to him and he would break out the bottle of Jim Beam and soon it would go away. Lately the drinking had become quite a habit. One day Bill looked around his house. It was really a mess. The junked old Ford had rusted down by the creek for over ten years. It was shot full of bullet holes from Bills twenty-two rifle. The inside of his house was messy and dirty. He couldn't remember when he had actually last made his bed. So it was in this depressed state of mind that he took one more swig of whiskey and climbed into his old Chevy pickup truck. The road to Lucille's cabin seemed particularly rough and the sun blazed down as he squinted through the dirty windshield in order to miss the major potholes and the larger rocks that lay in the road. Finally, he crested the rise and there she was. Lucille was an older woman and quite wise. She was working outside in her garden as he noisily parked his pickup next to the house. "Morning Bill. What brings you round here this time of day?" Her voice was like music to his ears. Funny how a woman's voice would soothe the lonely heart, he thought to himself. "Thought I'd just come over a visit for a spell", he said. Lucilles' eyes took on a compassionate demeanor and she slowly walked towards the house. She laid her hoe against the cabin wall. "Sit yourself on the porch and I'll get us some ice tea", she said. "I have my own drink, if you don't mind," Bill replied as he fished out the pint of whiskey from his shirt pocket. "I do mind and you'll not be a drinking that nasty stuff around my house!" she said with a slight tinge of anger in her voice. "I had to sit and watch a wonderful man throw away his life to that devils drink and I'll not tolerate it!" Bill batted his eyes and remembered Lucille's late husband. He was an old drinking buddy. Bill walked to the pickup and put his bottle in the glove compartment. "Sorry, I forgot about your feelings along these lines", he said apologetically. "Living alone and drinking can make the strongest man become a might forgetful", she said. Lucille retreated into the house and Bill sat down on one of the two rockers on the porch. Like most of the cabins, the front porch was a wonderful place to sit in the shade and just look at the beautiful countryside. Bill pulled out his bandanna and wiped his forehead. Lucille soon returned and handed him a large mason jar full of iced tea. She moved her rocker up wind of Bill and sat down and took a sip. After the usual greeting and catching up on news, Lucille looked at Bill, cocked her eyebrow and asked, "What's on your mind Bill?" "Well Lucille, I've been a looking at my life and my place up the canyon. I've come to the conclusion that I need me a wife so I can straighten it all out. My drinking has become a bit too heavy and the place is sure in need of a good cleaning. Plus, it would sure be a pleasure to hear a woman's voice sometimes and enjoy someone's company." Lucille looked at him, and after a long pause, said, "Bill, you got it all wrong. First you sober up, then you clean up your place, then you clean yourself up (with soap and deodorant) and then you start looking for a woman. Not the other way around. Any woman who would take you in your present condition would be the kind to live like a pig. Now you go on home and sober up, clean up your house and property, wash your clothes, bathe and come on back and we'll talk some more about this. But don't you even bring up this subject again until it's all done." A Wife To Straighten Me Out Commentary: If we want positive
changes in our life, we must work hard to make room for those changes.
In the end, it is up to us to clean up our lives in order to attract
and accept a whole new way of living. When we cope with our life situation
through escape mechanisms, then we have fallen into a trap that will
hold us in that situation. Depending upon others to make these changes
for us is also a mistake that comes from a sloppy and lazy mindset.
In the end, we must take charge of our life and clean it up in order
to experience the wonder and magic of a free and happy life.
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