No Happy Ending

Fandango

In the beginning of their relationship, Sally thought Greg was the best thing since sliced bread. She was sure they were soulmates and she told all of her friends how lucky she was to have found him. But three years in, she had to concede that there were problems.

She discovered that Greg had a very short fuse and a petulant nature. Nothing she did was ever good enough. For example, if she gave him orange juice made from concentrate, he would throw a hissy fit. And then there was the gut-wrenching time that he hit her in the face and gave her a shiner because he thought she was too provocatively dressed at a dinner with friends.

Sally became very depressed and turned to alcohol to help her cope with her unhappiness. But her drinking got out of control and she ended up being arrested for drunk driving. That’s when Sally’s family and friends held an intervention. Their objective was to make sure that Sally got the help she needed to stay sober and to convince her to leave Greg.

She ultimately did leave Greg, met a man at an Alcohol Anonymous meeting, and married him. Unfortunately, they both fell off the wagon and there wasn’t a happy ending.

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (beginning), Your Daily Word Prompt (concede), Word of the Day Challenge (petulant), Ragtag Daily Prompt (orange), My Vivid Blog (concentrate), E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (gut-wrenching), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (sober).

21 thoughts on “No Happy Ending”

  1. Ron. July 22, 2022 / 3:58 pm

    Well, you got them all in there, Fan; and did so very smoothly, and engrossingly, too. I could never. Especially loved the closer. Thanks.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Fandango July 22, 2022 / 4:46 pm

      Thanks, Ron. It’s always a fun challenge to come up with something using random words thrown out by a handful of blogger that is engrossing without sounding too contrived.

      Like

  3. Lou Carreras July 22, 2022 / 5:46 pm

    As ron pointed out, great use of the prompts. But the story regretfully rings too true, and many of us have known couples like this.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango July 22, 2022 / 10:45 pm

      I had two choices, Lou. One was the fairytale-is “they lived happily ever after. The other was the more likely reality. I’m feeling a bit jaded lately, I guess.

      Like

  5. Marlapaige July 22, 2022 / 6:50 pm

    Wonderful! A bit on the downer side, but I think that’s what makes it resonate so deeply.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango July 22, 2022 / 10:48 pm

      Thanks. I know it was a bit of a sad ending, but I just couldn’t go with “and the lived happily ever after.”

      Like

      • Marlapaige July 23, 2022 / 9:03 am

        Absolutely not. It wouldn’t have worked. The downer part is truly what kicks you in the gut and makes it feel right to the reader too. Happily ever after is kinda… too Disney for the story you were telling

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Marilyn Armstrong July 22, 2022 / 9:00 pm

    I actually know a couple that followed this exact pattern. You wrote their story.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango July 22, 2022 / 10:58 pm

      There are probably too many such couples. Mental and emotional abuse destroys relationships and alcohol abuse destroys lives.

      Like

  7. writerravenclaw July 23, 2022 / 2:16 am

    Sometimes there isn’t a happy ending, they both had too much going on to deal with it together.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango July 23, 2022 / 9:10 am

      Unfortunately, for many in these situations, happy endings only happen in fairytales.

      Like

  10. Nope, Not Pam July 23, 2022 / 4:39 am

    Wow, that’s pretty heavy hitting

    Liked by 1 person

  12. leigha66 July 27, 2022 / 2:50 pm

    Sadly there are a lot of unhappy endings in life. Good write Fandango!

    Liked by 1 person

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