Jim McFallen and Mary were married for fifty years and were still together, looking a happy couple, apparently. After his retirement, Jim settled down in the small town of Hampshire, with his wife and both were very popular amongst the people. The townsfolk decided to felicitate them on the occasion of their golden jubilee in married life. A lavish function was arranged and everyone was invited.
In his brief speech, the Mayor eulogized Jim and Mary, for the services rendered to the people of the town and then invited any question they wished to ask. One middle-aged man asked, "Jim, I find it hard to believe that you and Mary have been together during the past fifty years! In this town, there is not a single couple who has not divorced at least once. Most of them have divorced and remarried several times. What is the secret of your successful marriage?"
Jim pondered for a while and then decided to reveal the story of his life as follows:
Mary and I studied in the same college in our teens. She was the beautiful daughter of a Texan Rancher and was well-versed in the art of horse riding and using the gun. She was as exuberant as me. It was natural that we fell in love and married at a young age. We went for our honeymoon to a quiet, picturesque place in the Wild West. We hired two horses and were trotting at a brisk pace.
Suddenly, the horse ridden by Mary, fell down, dropping her to the ground. She got up, helped the horse to get up and then said loudly, "ONE!"
We trotted along for another mile or two, when her horse fell down again. She repeated the earlier actions and said loudly, "TWO!"
We resumed our trot and covered another mile, when her horse fell down a third time. Now, she just got up, said loudly, "THREE!" and shot the horse with the gun she was carrying.
I was aghast at what I saw. I admonished her for this cruel act and said, "Why did you kill the poor creature? We could have taken another horse."
She looked at me sternly and said loudly, "ONE!".
Thereafter, I have never, ever questioned or interfered with her actions, knowing fully well that I was only two counts away from taking the place of the dead horse!
This, my friend, is the secret of my successful marriage. There was a loud sound of applause from the people after hearing this incredible story. When the noise subsided, Mary got up, looked sternly at Jim, and said loudly, "TWO! You have defamed me by projecting me as a killer."
Jim looked around helplessly and pleaded with the people, "Please help me. I'm only one count away from the grave!"
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Comments: 29
men could learn a thing or two from this story!!
Oxnard, my impression is that most marriages fail because of a clash of egos. If one partner agrees to the decisions of the other, then the chances of failure gets substatially reduced.
And, it took fifty years for her to count to two?
That's really odd. And, I had a hard time believing that one.
Anywho, this is a very fun story.
Thanks for posting to my group, Anythingwriting
Thank you, Jan
The second objection you've raised is,"why did it take fifty years for her to count 'TWO'?" Well! this was the second time when she was infuriated on Jim, because he revealed her actions in public and, apparently, tarnished her image. The first time was when he criticised her action in killing the horse. I know a case where the man had waited that long, just to hear the words, "yes, I'll marry you", from his sweetheart. Eventually, he remained a bachelor all his life, because he could not fall in love with any other woman! He used to say, when asked about it, "A man can love only once. I consider it my destiny not to have succeeded".
Although, this story is fiction, and some color is added to give it a touch of humor, it is supported by real life events. May be, you will find some ideas useful for your next romance story! Good Luck!
And, eventually there has to be a time when you say, enough is enough.
I'm very surprised to hear of someone that is that weak willed not to fight back.
Or at least leave. Or maybe test the boundary a bit.
Maybe she was just joking about the counting thing.
Maybe all those years, she just used it as a threat to keep him in line.
Who knows.
Thank you Kelly.
Thanks Chuck, for the new "twist" to the story. I'm sure if Jim had that much courage, he would have left her long ago, as Angela had been suggesting!