The Picture
Walking into the living room, Dee stops and looks at a picture on the wall. Standing in front of it examining it closely, she speaks to her husband who is sitting on the couch watching TV.
"This doesn't make sense in here anymore." She says quietly.
"What do you mean?" He asks, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.
"This picture." She takes two steps back and squints her eyes. "Everything in here, we've changed so much. It doesn't make sense anymore."
Keeping her back to him, she stands quietly contemplating the picture. It is a black and white photographic print of a couple sitting in the back of a Parisian cafe. The Man is holding a burning cigarette in his left hand; it smolders into a stream of smoke, forgotten. The conversation and the beautiful woman sitting across from him intrigue him. She looks back at him with an adoring gaze. It seems as though they hang on each others' every word, as though no other conversation could be more true or real.
Dee stands and gazes about the room, examining each piece of furniture and decoration as if they held some secret.
"We picked this picture out together. I remember that. you said it looked so classy, with the different shades of grey, black, and white." She surveyed the room again. "It seems though, we've taken to buying pieces on our own. From a stranger's point of view, this space looks perfect, but doesn't look right to me. It doesn't feel right anymore."
Looking away from the TV for the first time since she came in the room, he slowly scrutinizes the room. "I didn't realize that you felt that way, just guess I never thought about it."
"That isn't so surprising," she says distractedly. She has turned to look at the TV from her standing position in front of the picture. "Not surprising at all."
"What do you want to do with it?" He asks her gently, his attention back on the screen.
"I don't know. It's so familiar, it's always been there, I love it so much." She looks back at it. "It's the one thing in here that has lasted all these years."
"We could change the rest of the room, if you wanted, and keep the picture. We can do it together."
"I'm not sure I'm willing to put that much work into it. I don't know that I could even try."
He clicks the power button on the remote control, and the TV snaps off behind her. The sudden silence was startling.
