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Eliza Lynn Taylor

Eliza Lynn Taylor
Eliza Lynn Taylor Freelance Writer

Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Survey Says



Janine sat at her table staring over her cup of coffee at her husband waiting for his usual morning rhetorical question, and it didn’t take long.

“So, what do you have planned today?” Tim asked, as he carefully speared another piece of egg with his fork and stuck it in his mouth.

Usually she replied, “Nothing.” Today, she decided, was going to be different. She was putting her foot down.

“I made arrangements to meet Kathy in town for coffee and then we’re going to do a little shopping for her upcoming trip,” she said. 

Tim raised an eyebrow and placed his fork across his plate. “You have coffee here, and she can get whatever she needs just fine by herself. Here’s my list for you.” He slid a long piece of scratch paper across the table at her. 

Janine slid it back after glancing at it. “There’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”

I’ll have a new list tomorrow,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I don’t know why you bothered to make plans. You know you can’t keep them. You have to do what I have planned for you. Do you think I have nothing better to do than come up with things to occupy your day?”

“You always make plans for me and it isn’t necessary. I am perfectly capable of planning my own day,” she said.

“You will do what I tell you to do,” he said, his voice flat. “I am the head of this household.”
“It’s my house too,” she pointed out.

“As I recall, you aren’t on the mortgage. I pay for it. It’s my house.”

“Janine stood up. “You wouldn’t let me on the mortgage,” she told him.

“You don’t have a job, he returned, also standing. “We discussed it and it was agreed that you should stay at home and take care of me.”

“No, you discussed it. I went along because it was easier than arguing. If I disagree, you brow-beat me until I cave in and you get your way. I’m sick of it.”

“There’s the door. You’re welcome to use it,” Tim said pointing.

“And if I do?” she challenged him.

He balled his fists and rested them on the table. “You wouldn’t stay gone long. You can’t support yourself. Besides, the day you took my name you became my property. Everything you wear, everything you eat, even your car, belongs to me.”

“I am not your property,” she said slowly, anger seething out of every word.

Tim checked his watch. “I have to go to work, you know, to pay the bills. This had better be done when I get back,” he said pointing to the list. He slammed the door on his way out.

Janine went to a drawer and pulled out an envelope from her doctor’s office. It was the results of a survey they had her fill out at her last checkup. “And the survey says,” she said, re-reading the cover letter, skipping over the introduction. “You are being emotionally abused. He may not have hit you yet, but all indicators project that he will. He is escalating and it won’t take much to set him off.” They included the numbers for marriage and family counselors and a number to call for a referral. She shook her head. 

Janine pulled a cell phone Kathy had given her out of her robe pocket. She hit the speed dial Kathy had programmed into the phone. 

“I can be ready in an hour,” she told her. “Is your aunt sure she wants to take me in.”
“Absolutely,” was the reply. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. 

Janine scribbled a note across Tim’s list. “Do it yourself, jerk. I’m out of here. Since my clothes wouldn’t fit you anyway, I am taking them with me.”

She ran to her room and stuffed her clothes and personal items into paper sacks. “Wouldn’t want you coming after me because I took your luggage,” she said to herself. She looked out the window when she heard the car and sighed with relief that it was Kathy. She had left the door unlocked for her so she was wasn’t surprised when Kathy stood in the doorway.

“Ready?” Kathy asked her.

“As I’ll ever be,” Janine said. She threw the keys on the counter beside her note and walked out the door.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Easter Bunny



“Mom, why do we hide eggs at Easter? Isn’t is about celebrating Christ dying on the cross and then coming back? That’s what they teach in church,” Leslie asked.

Gloria looked at her little girl and smiled. Leslie had learned the true reason for Easter after all. “You know what sweetheart, mommy doesn’t really know where the eggs and the bunny came from, but give me until tomorrow and I will find out. Right now, it’s time for bed.”

“Okay Mom.” The little girl got on her knees, propped her elbows on her bed, clasped her hands together and closed her eyes before saying a small prayer. She got up and climbed into bed and closed her eyes. She smiled as her mother kissed her forehead and switched off the little bedside light. 

Gloria went into her room and turned on her computer. She read for hours trying to figure out how to explain to her small child about the origins of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. 

“Mom, did you find out about the Easter bunny. Easter is Sunday and I want to be able to tell them in Sunday school.” She ate a banana as she stared at her mother.

Gloria laughed. “Oh! You just want to come off as a smarty pants. Is that the real reason you want to know?” she asked.

“No,” the little girl denied, shaking her head back and forth so hard her blonde braids swung.

“Well, do you remember learning about Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt?” She looked at the girl. “Well, people used to worship a lot of gods, not just the One. Before Christ was born, in a place we now call Germany they had a goddess of fertility. Now I don’t expect you to know what that is,” she started.

“It means they were able to have children, just like on the farm when the animals are fertile they get to have a baby and when the land is fertile it grows lots of crops. My best friend lives on a farm Mom,” Leslie informed her. 

“You sure pick up on things quick for a six-year old,” Gloria said. She continued when her daughter looked at her with impatience for the rest of the story. 

“Well, that goddess had a symbol. It was a rabbit, because they have so many babies. People used to celebrate the goddess with feasts on the first day of spring. Eggs also were of symbol of new life and they came up with a story about a bunny that laid eggs and hid them in the garden. You follow me so far?”

“Yep, the bunny and the eggs came before Easter. So somehow they got mashed together, huh?”

Gloria laughed. “That’s about the size of it. The children began coloring eggs at some point and then the Roman Catholics turned them into a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. The legend was published hundreds of years ago and made its way the United States through the Germans. Now, we celebrate Easter with the bunny and hiding colored eggs.”

Leslie smiled proudly. “Wait till I tell them about the Easter bunny and eggs in Sunday school!”