Friday, June 20, 2008

A Love Story

Once upon a time, there lived a husband and a wife. Now, this was not your typical husband and wife, oh no, they were special.

You see, each night before going to bed, the husband would turn on the light over the stove in the kitchen. "It's so I can see if I have to get up in the middle of the night," he would tell his wife when she would question why he did this for the 999,999th time. But you never get up in the middle of the night, she thought to herself as she followed him to bed.

The next night would come and the same thing would happen, the husband would turn on the light over the stove and the wife would ask him why. She explained that the light over the stove lit up more than just the kitchen, and since it was her side of the bed that faced the hallway which was lit up by this light, she wished they could leave it off, for once.

"No!" said the husband. "I need to be able to see if there is an emergency!" he said, and that was that.

But you never wake up, even if one of the kids is screaming, the wife thought to herself and she followed him to bed by the light glowing from above the stove.

This went on and on, night after night until the wife could take it no more.

"I put up with the television on and your alarm going off at an ungodly hour each morning even when you don't have to be anywhere! I put up with your snoring and your iPod, which you have turned up way too loud! You never get up in the middle of the night, I do and I don't need that blasted light to know where I need to be because most likely, it's right across the hall in one of the childrens' rooms! I have had enough of your need for light, it's a waste of electricity and I can't sleep with that light shining in our bedroom! I NEED IT TO BE DARK!"

After a slight pause, the husband looked at his wife, trying not to laugh, and said, "I guess we could compromise." The wife agreed.

And then she marched into the kitchen and turned off the light above the stove.

She slept the magical sleep of a worn-out child that night, hardly waking up at all. When she woke in the morning she reached her arms above her head, stretched and smiled (a highly unusual thing for her to do first thing in the morning). She leaned over her husband's sleeping form and said, "Thank you for letting me have a night without that light on." Then, she sprung out of bed and made him a lavish breakfast and a huge pot of coffee (this is a fairy tale, right?).

The husband and the wife continued with this compromise for many, many nights. One night, the light would be on, the next night it would be off. Sometimes though, the wife would sneak back downstairs to the kitchen after the husband was asleep and turn the light off. He'll never know, she thought to herself before heading up to bed in the darkness she required to sleep well.

One day, the husband went out of town for a few nights. The first night, the wife missed her husband a little, so she slept in his fireman t-shirt. The second night, the wife missed her husband a little more, so she listened to some of his favorite music and pretended to snore a little (to remind herself of him) before going to sleep. The third night was the worst, the wife missed her husband so much that she actually went into the kitchen and turned on the light over the stove, you know, so she could find her way in case of an emergency. Then, she crawled back into bed in her husband's t-shirt, listened to a little music, snored a bit and fell asleep.

When her husband finally came home, the wife was so happy to see him. "Oh honey, I missed you!" she said as she gave him a giant hug. "I missed you too babe," he said back to her. He may or may not have tried to cop a feel at this point.

"I missed you so much, you'll never believe what I did."

She told him about the kitchen light.

"Now that's love," he said.

Later that night, as they were walking up the stairs to go to bed, the wife turned to the husband and said, "I'll even let you leave the light on tonight." And he smiled from ear to ear.

The End.

26 comments:

Lisa said...

That is true love if I've ever heard it.

When young women who are looking for their prince charming are trying to figure out what their fairy tale might be, they need to get that they need to love him so much they'd leave the light on. Just because they love him.

Thanks for sharing such a heart-warming story!

Anonymous said...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww what a lovely modern fairy tale!

The Mom Jen said...

aW!

Amanda said...

Aw! I'm inspired, tonight, when he leaves three sticky popsicle sticks discarded on the table I'll smile.

Elizabeth Byler Younts said...

very sweet...my husband needs the tv on...i never did before we were married, but now i need it too!

come on over to my place for a new "bloggy event" every friday...Feel Good Friday...b/c sometimes we need to give ourselves a pat on the back. :-)

alice c said...

What a great story for a Friday evening - but I am not going to show my husband because I DONT want him getting any ideas.

Have a great weekend Carrie

Family Adventure said...

Awwww...Carrie, what a great fairy tale! :)

Heidi

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Compromise--it's what a happy marriage is built on!

Anonymous said...

I love knowing that when a beautiful young princess meets someone who is truly a prince they may just live happily ever after.

I love you both...

musingwoman said...

I loved this so much I sent the link to Schmutzie for next week's Five Star Friday. :)

Queen Telling said...

"But you never wake up, even if one of the kids is screaming, the wife thought to herself and she followed him to bed by the light glowing from above the stove."

So funny!!!

Anonymous said...

Awww...how sweet is that?

Rhea said...

Very sweet and believable fairy tale!

Amy said...

Marriage in a nutshell, and a lovely ode to your own.

Loved this.

Nauntie Lush said...

Oh, how sweet! I can even totally relate to the whole "snoring, too loud ipod, tv blaring" part more than you know! Can I sleep when he is gone? Not a chance...apparently we all need that "noise" to sleep, no matter how distracting!

Mamacita Tina said...

It's those silly little things like stove lights that help us through their absences. Very sweet story.

Our Crooked Tree said...

It is the simple things isn't it? What a sweet and well written love story ☺

RW said...

So funny. Because I am on the one who leaves the light on just in case....

McMommy said...

Hey, we leave the light on over the stove too at night! You know, in case of an emergency.

We DO, seriously!!

Happy POW!

painted maypole said...

ha ha ha!

:)

(and if it were my husband there would be no "may not" possibility of the cop a feel moment)

Kyla said...

Very sweet.

Ann(ie) said...

Alright. That is just adorable!!!

a Tonggu Momma said...

What a true-to-life love story! For us, it's not the stove light, it's the ceiling fan!

Anonymous said...

Sweet story but I doubt I'll be throwing underwear all over the bathroom floor the next time my husband goes away just cause I miss him.

Maura said...

That was a great story. Glad I found you on Five Star Friday. :-)

Anonymous said...

Here by way of POW.
The light above the stove, the t.v. and the alarm at an ungodly hour, the radio (instead of the ipod)--that is so my husband.
Love the fairy tale and the fairy tale ending. Too cute!