# The promise      259 words... humor



## Plasticweld (Sep 8, 2014)

The Promise.

_The trouble with promises is that you’re supposed to keep them. In the throes of passion, in a *moment *of weakness -- one of those when the mouth is working faster than the brain -- you can promise just about anything._ 
  Being what I consider a noble man, I of course keep all my promises,  This does not mean I don’t look to see if there might be a way out it; especially if it is some foul thing.  Something completely un-natural and demeaning that it makes you shudder at the thought. At what point do you draw the line, yes I made a promise but it might be better to break the promise than go through with the act, the outcome could be that bad! 

The kids and I often refer to her as Mary Poppins. She sings songs, plays games, loves little kids; all that warm fuzzy stuff like in a Disney movie.   Beneath that charming exterior, lurks the heart of a _man_ipulator.  She says it would be good for us, bring us together, let us spend some time together, it would be romantic. I know she is playing some kind of mental chess game with me, trying to break me down, get me to submit.  Every fiber of me says no, I don’t want do this. 

For anyone who has been married for any length of time, you know how this ends, I am going to lose, keep my promise, cause that’s what we do when we love someone.  












  We signed up for dance lessons.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 8, 2014)

Love the punchline. :highly_amused:


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## Winston (Sep 8, 2014)

God have mercy on your soul.


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## TKent (Sep 8, 2014)

I think this is hilarious! (My husband--not so much--he will be spending an upcoming weekend with me at a Midtown Music Festival watching Eminem, Iggy Azalea, Twenty One Pilots, Bastille and a bunch of other stuff he doesn't listen to because...It's gonna be fun! He does, however, draw the line at dance lessons.) 

Nice little piece! Loved that final line  

And loved _man_ipulator

Great job! 

A couple of items in red.



Plasticweld said:


> The Promise.
> 
> The trouble with promises is that you’re supposed to keep them.  In the throes of passion, in a *moment *of weakness, in one of those *moments*, when the mouth is working faster than your brain; if there was a way to avoid two moments so close together you can promise just about anything.  Being what I consider a noble man I of *coarse *course keep all my promises. <-needs a comma in there somewhere.This does not mean I don’t look to see if there might be* away *out it; s/b a way especially if it is some foul thing.  Something completely un-natural and demeaning <-haha - now that I know it is dance lessons this description is even funnier that it makes you shudder at the thought. At what point do you draw the line, <- I might end that with a question mark and start new sentence here -> yes I made a promise but it might be better to break the promise than go through with the act, the outcome could be that bad!
> 
> ...


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## dither (Sep 9, 2014)

Oh dear, dance lessons.

I DO regret not being able to dance, but even now, i'm too self-conscious.

There's no way i could ever consider it.

 Maybe if i could go some place 20 miles away where nobody knows me, even then i don't think i'd ever to do it back home.


Good luck PW.


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## Pandora (Sep 10, 2014)

I predict good things for you Bob. 

 Mama will be happy.


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## Firemajic (Sep 10, 2014)

I enjoyed reading this, very witty. But--just a quick question--dance lessons now--what NEXT hummmm? Peace...Jul


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## midnightpoet (Sep 10, 2014)

I don't have to worry about dance lessons - neither of us are interested.  However, after over 35 years of marriage she always gets what she wants and I just say yes dear.  I gave up a long time ago trying to win arguments with her.  I don't think I've won one yet.


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## Kieran S (Sep 11, 2014)

This reminds me of a man describing the way he and his wife share all their decisions 50/50.

He gets to decide their position on politics in the Middle East, the existence of aliens, Tiger Woods's chances in the Masters, etc.

She gets to decide where they live, who their friends are, what type of diet they have, etc.

I enjoyed this. It's nicely set up and could go a number of ways at the end. You could for example, state "We're going to counselling" or "We're going to see a divorce lawyer", and the whole thing takes on a different tone.


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## Kieran S (Sep 11, 2014)

I should admit something too... I saw the punchline of this piece before I read the rest of it.

Standing out at the end of the text, it caught my eye on the screen. Perhaps you could "hide" the punchline at the end of he last paragraph:

From this:

===
The kids and I often refer to her as Mary Poppins. She sings songs, plays games, loves little kids; all that warm fuzzy stuff like in a Disney movie. Beneath that charming exterior, lurks the heart of a_manipulator. She says it would be good for us, bring us together, let us spend some time together, it would be romantic. I know she is playing some kind of mental chess game with me, trying to break me down, get me to submit. Every fiber of me says no, I don’t want do this. 

For anyone who has been married for any length of time, you know how this ends, I am going to lose, keep my promise, cause that’s what we do when we love someone. 



We signed up for dance lessons.
_
===

...to this:

===
The kids and I often refer to her as Mary Poppins. She sings songs, plays games, loves little kids; all that warm fuzzy stuff like in a Disney movie. Beneath that charming exterior, lurks the heart of a_manipulator. She says it would be good for us, bring us together, let us spend some time together, it would be romantic. I know she is playing some kind of mental chess game with me, trying to break me down, get me to submit. Every fiber of me says no, I don’t want do this. 

For anyone who has been married for any length of time, you know how this ends, I am going to lose, keep my promise, cause that’s what we do when we love someone. We signed up for dance lessons._
===


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## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 11, 2014)

I disagree with Kieran. You need to have that pause before delivering the punchline. It makes it much more effective.


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## Apple Ice (Sep 11, 2014)

Hello Plastic, I also saw the punchline first as it caught my eye straight away. Maybe just put it right at the bottom of the page so you have to scroll to see it.

Enjoyed the piece.


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## Plasticweld (Sep 11, 2014)

I moved it down, thanks for advice, and reading...

I am at a loss as if to write about the first dance lesson. I never thought I would have struggled to learn  something so simple or feel like such a fool in the process


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## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 11, 2014)

Plastic can I PM you? I'm trying to figure out the direction of my novel. It's about 500 words.


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## Plasticweld (Sep 12, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> Plastic can I PM you? I'm trying to figure out the direction of my novel. It's about 500 words.




Sure that's what friends are for...Bob


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## Megookin (Sep 12, 2014)

Almost every man out there signed up for one reason.  We thought something was going to happen to them by making that promise.  It did happen to us too, but it fell under a different definition of the word we were thinking.


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## zerofirezelo (Sep 14, 2014)

Brilliant little story and probably not too uncommon.


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## Reichelina (Apr 5, 2016)

LOL. Are you still dancing until now? HAHA.


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