Hurricane Jane

a story inspired by a writing prompt in Stephen King’s “On Writing”

Dick covered his face with his arms, vainly trying to avoid the fists that pummeled him repeatedly. Oh God, not again, he thought. This can’t be happening again.

As he struggled to twist away from Jane’s fury it was as if he was caught inside a silken bag that softly brushed his face as the punches eventually slowed. He opened his eyes to bright morning sunshine filtering through his bed sheet and a tiny voice in his ear “Daddy, no hiding.”

He pulled the sheet from his face. Jane was gone, she had never been there, and it was just another nightmare. His 3-year old daughter Nell was standing beside the bed, her face bright with morning, her hair a wild halo around her head. Nell pulled the sheet further down the bed, announcing, “Wake up time! Wake up time!”

Dick reached out and rubbed his daughter’s tousled head. She had curls so much like her mother’s it was sometimes painful for him. Each night he prayed that a physical resemblance was all she had inherited from her mother.

Their courtship had been whirlwind, a chance meeting at a seminar, an invitation to dinner and three weeks of unrelenting passion that threatened to kill them both. Jane was energetic and wild in bed, very much in control, and Dick found that surprisingly to his liking. After years of unsuccessful relationships with women who seemed confused about what they wanted from life, what they wanted from him, Jane was a revelation.

She made the decision to get married, she made all the arrangements. Dick was like a water skier, hanging on for life, letting the boat steer him where it willed. Most of the time he felt exhilarated and high — here was a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it. And true to her role as hunter, Jane displayed Dick as a trophy and Dick took to his role willingly.

Three years went by quickly, spent in a blur of house buying, lovemaking, and a constant drive on both their parts to succeed in their careers. With Jane’s encouragement, Dick rose to vice President of the Brownstein Advertising Agency. She mirrored his success, growing her small interior design firm into the area leader, catering to the super rich.