…..when she unexpectedly left him standing all alone on the altar not unlike a flagpole in the center of a sprawling suburban mall, she at least was sufficiently generous to leave behind a token present in his honor as well: A gaping hole in his soul that no amount of mortar or putty or spackling could ever hope to repair or gloss over. He became an emotional cripple following her surprise disappearance, albeit through no fault of his own. To wit: How can you ever hope to function as a normal human being once your soul has been publicly ripped to shreds and subsequently left lying exposed for all the vultures of the world to peck on and fight over? Yes indeed, he was undeniably a pitiful pitiful creature in the aftermath of being jilted on the altar, and his pursuant life—or what purportedly posed for a life, that is—was pitiful and sickeningly brittle too. About the only thing he could think of doing after she abruptly abandoned him at the front of a church packed full of eager celebrants was to begin counting down the months, weeks, and days until his forgettable sojourn on the surface of this small planet would prayerfully come to an end. Just hurry up and wait. Time can’t disappear fast enough anymore. Let’s get this whole fuckin’ charade over with as quickly and painlessly as possible! Accelerate the timetable, maybe, something that was easily within his physical capabilities? Nah. Nah……nah…..nah, only crazy, unhinged lunatics did anything that outrageously extreme. He surely wasn’t to such a desperate juncture yet, although he did make certain to file a mental note to himself that he shouldn’t absolutely rule out this nuclear option in the future if his life continued its inexorable downward spiral…..
Fred's Soapbox 