Wayne Scheer

Celebrating Memorial Day

Jack Spalding, a Vietnam veteran, knew Memorial Day was supposed to be a time of remembrance. But for him, it was a time he tried to forget.

Every Memorial Day, he'd sit with a bottle of scotch and drink until he passed out.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Lois asked, but after thirty-eight years of marriage she understood.

"Just leave me alone."

She knew better than to fight him. "I'm going to my sister's. I'll be back this evening."

"Go." He squeezed her hand. Avoiding her eyes, he whispered, "I'll be all right."

She knew he'd drink in silence, play an old Country Joe and the Fish album over and over, maybe a Crosby, Stills and Nash, and pass out.

She'd come home and help him into bed.

He'd apologize.

Lois knew his apologies weren't meant for her.

CP

Wayne Scheer has received four Pushcart nominations and a Best of the Web. His collection of twenty-four flash stories, Revealing Moments, can be downloaded at http://pearnoir.com/thumbscrews.htm.