The Spiral
(Note: Numerical Sequence based off the Fibonacci Sequence, this style is called an index story. As the creator and king of this universe, I also took some creative liberties here. Also since, this is Reddit, and this is published I will be removing this to avoid any flak after I pull this post down.)
1 –
[One innocuous smile] was all it took to win me over.
One more year after we met and we’d be 18, free to run away together.
One kiss and I knew that things wouldn’t be the same.
One, the first, cheesy date to the Weeki Wachee water park to ask her “to go steady.”
One, the first, lie on the first date: the yellow-finned mermaid did look better.
One month in and I knew I wouldn’t be faithful.
One year in and I already made excuses for my actions, even when an excuse wasn’t necessary.
One break up after I cheated for the first time.
“One” more chance, because I was honest about it and“everyone deserves a second chance. We all make mistakes.”
On[c]e a cheater, always a cheater.
2 –
Two teenagers breaking and entering to swim in a stranger’s pool.
Two hands held each other as two soaked teenagers in their underwear are being questioned by police.
Two misdemeanor trespassing charges, worth every minute.
Two months each of community service ended early because we had “strong moral guidelines” that had faltered for the “sake of adventure.”
Two mouths lied when we said we learned our lessons.
Two years in a relationship and we leave Tampa for Pensacola.
Two parents, hers, died in a car wreck driving from Tampa to Pensacola to surprise her for her first birthday away from home (we spent her birthday at the funeral).
Two weeks bereavement leave from my job.
Two “in laws” that didn’t qualify as in laws to my employer and when I came back I was fired, my boss claiming I lied and “twisted the rules and guidelines” to get time off work.
Two part-time jobs just managed to cover the bills.
Two nights a week for a month I went out with “the guys”, a guise.
Two lives so entangled that detangling the threads was more work than pushing through the problems.
3 -
Three days a week she went to night school.
Three days a week I didn’t have to explain where I was going when I went out.
Three chances to redeem myself after… (see next entry)
Three flings that should have ruined everything.
Three words kept the relationship alive much longer than I ever deserved.
Three years after we met she said yes.
4 – (No Entries)
5 –
Five years of college and she finally completed school.
Five people came with us to celebrate our…(see next entry)
Five-year anniversary.
Five smiles at dinner, two couples and child.
Five nearby restaurants that would have been more romantic than…(see next entry)
Five Guys, the restaurant.
Five vows renewed, one of them kept.
Five years of marriage without any big arguments.
Five accusations that, even though I was innocent, I couldn’t defend because I had already told lies that I couldn’t remember.
Five in the morning, the time when we finally made up after our first big argument and resolved never to argue again.
Five years of alcoholism followed before my first AA meeting.
6-7 – (No Entries)
8 –
Eight years of marital loyalty ruined with my first marital affair.
Eight weeks of half-heartedly searching for another place to live with no success.
Eight suicide attempts that were really desperate attempt to get her attention.
Eight letters thrown around and another…(see next entry)
Eight months before she finally said she forgave me. The previously mentioned eight letters did not spell I love you.
Eight letters are also in the word bullshit, often used to describe my excuses and actions.
Eight months of me trapping her in the relationship with phrases like:
“Where else will you go?” and
“It will never happen again,” and
“You need me,” and (the worst one)
“It’s not like you can move back in with your parents.”
Eight more letters to describe me could spell I am a jerk.
Eight months of begging before she let me sleep in our room again.
Eight months of agonizing torment, but any doubt I had about our marriage was cast aside when I realized we could endure anything.
Eight times:
“Till death do us part. Till death do us part. Till death do us part…” before I understood that it meant much more than just some liturgy spewed at the ceremony.
9-12 – (No Entries)
13 –
Thirteen, a baker’s dozen, is the number of roses I gave her after my first and only marital affair.
Thirteen, one more step after the standard twelve they give you in AA meetings: relapse.
Thirteen was the age of our son when we found out about…(See Section 34)
Thirteen was the number of sessions we had at the shrink’s office downtown.
Thirteen plastic smiles, a charade, as we pretended we were normal as a means to justify our companionship.
Thirteen post-session discussions about how “love” just wasn’t enough anymore.
Thirteen post-session arguments before our son intervened and asked us why we didn’t love each other anymore.
Thirteen sessions with no results, but [one] question from our son and we realized we had something special worth fighting for.
14-20 – (No Entries)
21 –
Twenty-one, my age when our son was born.
Twenty-one, the age that my life took a whole new meaning.
Twenty-one, the age that I realized the live fast, die young lifestyle was reckless and inconsiderate.
Twenty-one years before I truly knew what the words“unconditional love” meant.
Twenty-one characters in my son’s name.
22-33 – (No Entries)
34 –
Thirty-four, the age that I realized the weight of everything I’d done to my wife.
Thirty-four, the age that I realized that I was selfish and had trapped her in an emotionally abusive relationship.
Thirty-four, the age that I realized that alcoholism wasn’t going to raise my kid, and that revelation oddly snapped me out of an extreme bout of depression.
Thirty-four, the age that I realized how lucky I was, and that I cherished every moment I had been given with my wife, even if I didn’t deserve…(see very first entry)
Thirty-four, the age of my wife and I when we found out she had terminal cancer.