I should have known there was a
catch. I thought my new husband
was the catch, but that was before he
took me home to his dark house of
shadowy secrets, of strange pluckings
of the sleeve of my soul, of sudden clammy
coldness creeping across my face the moment
I set foot in the house he’d assured me I
would fall in love with, as I would with
his two daughters. But they viewed me with
mistrust, hostile from the first moment, suspicious
of my intentions to steal their daddy from them,
to usurp their mother’s place in their affections,
to take her place in their father’s bed
Climbing the creaking stairs to our bedroom,
my suitcases filled with my old life, intent on
integrating with the new, when I opened the closet
that was to be mine, I found it already occupied,
full of dresses and skirts, blouses, shoes and
all the outfits of the dead first wife. He said
she died two years ago, but her perfume assailed me
from the hanging clothes, and I knew at once that
her death was more recent. I stood transfixed,
confused and hesitant, filled with doubts about when
she died or even if she’d died, memories of the tale of Bluebeard
and his murdered wives flitting across my mind
The fearful realization of my folly, of a hasty marriage to a
man I’d met online, swept off my feet by his gallant behavior,
convinced of his sincerity, naively believing his promises,
now filled the pit of my stomach with dread, fear tingling
its way across my scalp. Unsure whether to stay or leave
at once, I took a step back, only to find his silent figure
blocking my eventual escape.
Susan P. Blevins, an ex-pat Brit, lived in Italy for twenty-six years, traveled the world extensively, and has now settled in Houston, Texas, where she is enjoying writing stories and poems based on her travels and adventures. She had a weekly column on food in a European newspaper while living in Rome, and has published various articles on gardens and gardening while living in northern New Mexico, before moving to Houston. Since living in Houston she has been published in various literary magazines, both in hard copy and online. her passions are classical music, gardening, nature, animals (cats in particular), reading and of course, writing. She has written a journal since she was about nine. She is a true bibliophile and has books in every room of her house.