Austin The Powerless Chapter 3

        Austin The Powerless ---Chapter 3

     (Contains Some Mild Sexual References Adult Readers Only)

      A Fictional Work---Read Chapters 1 & 2 Before This Chapter

The phrase “Unlucky in Love” was likely first uttered with Austin in mind. A late high school romance was the fulfillment of a 12 year friendship. But it seemed as if the goddesses of Love had it in for Austin. Strange events too numerous to recount, served to slowly dissolve this deeply felt romantic attachment, at least from Austin’s viewpoint.  Even being told by Cindy Ann of her intimate encounter with a fellow Austin knew, it did not dash his ardor for her. However, the fatal destructive arrow was yet to strike his heart.

Austin, unlike his father and younger brother, disliked farm work. Austin was a dreamer, a person of books and big ideas. However, it was farm work that provided him with gas and movie money.  One day he was working alongside a high school classmate on a nearby farm when out of the blue, an unannounced arrow struck its mark. “Guess, you heard Cindy Ann got married?” Austin tried to remain unfazed, but he really wanted to cry and vomit, or at least run until he died. Somehow he made it through the day without doing either. Years later, he confided to his best friend that he thinks of Cindy Ann every day, often several times a day!

It was helpful for Austin to later discover God has thoughts and plans that are entirely different from ours. Enter a girl who was a blind date. They were comfortable and relaxed around each other and a long courtship followed. It was love with blue jeans on.  After several unavoidable separations, Austin and Polly were married.

Like most marriages, careers and kids, later grandkids, filled their lives. Austin was the poster child for being unorganized. Polly repeatedly reminded him “that’s not the way my Dad would do it.”  Austin’s relationship with Polly’s father was forced co-existence. Once her father raised his fist to strike Austin, Polly’s mother halted possible injury to one or both.

Austin once heard a stand up TV comedian say, “Marriage is a lot like a night at the boxing matches, sometimes the pre-lims are better than the main event!” Several years of marriage proved the accuracy of this humorous wisdom.

During one particular argument, Polly shouted out that she never really enjoyed intimate relations and merely learned how to fake it! Austin’s self-esteem and manly ego died, then and there, but the burial would have to wait until the rest of Austin caught up, might be better said, let down. As the months passed, irrational thoughts of divorce, suicide, even running away, ricocheted off the walls of his fractured mind. 

Even though Austin promised himself to avoid discussing this hurtful topic again, he violated his own promise and several times tried unsuccessfully to have her explain not only her bombshell statement, but several obvious Oscar-winning performances when Austin returned from long business trips. It all of a sudden made sense to Austin why Polly had always been a fan of the UNC Tar Heels’ basketball team. She had learned how to stall and “Run Out The Clock!” Austin learned to survive and how to take long cold showers.

Years slouched by and Father Time and Miss Gravity performed their unavoidable work upon Austin and Polly. She became a TV recluse in her sewing room and often longingly looked at her high school yearbook and Austin immersed himself in the books he had collected, plus the untold millions of free volumes on the Internet.


 Glenn <><
Just West of Yesterday


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