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Friday Fictioneers prompt for April 10, 2015 ©Jennifer Pendergast
Man and Machine
There was nothing Gerry couldn’t do with engines. He used parts from the scrap-yard to fix the washing machine and keep his 37 year-old car in top condition.
The restoration projects got ever more ambitious, ranging from early tractors to an entire train. He didn’t call them his babies or his girls like some of the men in the Vintage and Heritage Club. He loved them for what they were.
His wife Mel was settling nicely into a new home with her new man, new washing machine and new car.
Gerry had yet to notice she was gone. He assumed she had finally found a hobby of her own.
©Siobhán McNamara
Maybe she had! Good story.
Thanks Mick, she sure had, just not the one Gerry imagined 😉
Great last two lines! I really didn’t expect them. I only half sympathise with her though – I definitely think we should keep machines going for as long as we can before just going out and buying new ones…although men, that’s a different story!
Thanks Claire 🙂
Hah! I suspect she’ll find her new hobby infinitely more rewarding. Nice one. 🙂
It will certainly be a new experience. Thanks Sandra 🙂
Funny and sad at the same time. Great story.
Thank you, I’m glad both elements came across 🙂
Very, very good. I chuckled there at the end. Great stuff.
Thank you, I’m glad you got a chuckle out of it 🙂
This gave me a chuckle, too. While I, too, like to keep good things working as long as they can, sometimes switching to new, eco-friendlier stuff can be better. That’s a lesson Gerry won’t learn. Great story with a great ending.
It’s a fine balance that not everyone finds. I’m glad you got a chuckle from it 🙂
Rather sad… and yet I wish I had some of that focus! 😉 Great story.
Me too Caerlynn! Thanks for reading 🙂
I’m with Gerry. Which is more eco friendly, trashing or repairing? His wife needs a clue. 😉
Loved this, Siobhan.
I think they just inhabit different worlds. Thanks for reading 🙂
The last line made me laugh! Poor Gerry, i wish he manages to balance “real” life and hobby in future
He may some day realise what is happening around him! 🙂
Haha, love those last couple of lines. Sounds like it worked out for the best all round. I love the scathing attitude to calling them his babies or his girls – gives us an extra hint at his personality!
He is certainly dedicated to his art!
Heh, nice idea. Extra marks for not having a senseless FF death to ruin it 🙂
Thanks Paul 🙂
Not only a new man but a new washing machine and car! Boy, she really wanted to be rid of him!
She was certainly ready for a bit of newness in her life 🙂
What a great way to show a man with a one track mind. Fun!
Thanks Alicia 🙂
Fantastic story! Really didn’t expect the ending but I’m very happy for the wife lol 🙂
I think she’s a lot happier now 🙂
Good story. Feeling sorry for Gerry, hard working.
They just weren’t the most compatible couple 😉
Thanks for reading Indira 🙂
While a funny story, I cannot help but think she was the one who had the problem. Yes he liked his trains, but in my opinion, a relationship should be based on not only trust, but also acceptance.
I think they both had issues that needed addressing – too late for them now though. Thanks for reading 🙂
Siobhán, this is sad, but I still laughed. 🙂 Poor oblivious Gerry. His wife didn’t like his fixer-uppers, I guess. You told this beautifully. Well done, truly.
-David
Thank you David, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Ha, Ha, — So True. Reminds me of a slogan I recently read that said “To have Friends, you need to be a Friend”.
Thanks Mike 🙂
Oh man…he’s clueless. Sad. The new washing machine part made me laugh, though. Life is such a mixture.
Ellespeth
Thanks Ellespeth, I was aiming for a lighter note this week 🙂
Very amusing last couple of lines. I would say “poor Gerry”, but it sounds like he’s happy enough 🙂
Thanks Ali, and yes, he seems happy enough, not least because he has yet to realise that he is ‘poor Gerry’ 😉
Dear Siobhán,
You had me laughing at the last two lines even though it’s kind of a sad commentary. Very well crafted story. Beautifully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle 🙂
Very amusing! I think she deserves to have that interesting new man–er–hobby!
I suspect she is settling into her new life nicely 🙂
Dear Siobhan,
The way you communicated his utter disconnection from the ‘real’ world was great. he sounded semi-together there for a bit. Who doesn’t want a man to be able to fix or refurbish things with inventiveness and skill? But then you closed out your story with a laugh and the news that your MC is about as far out there as it is possible to be. Great stuff. (That guy is me.)
Aloha,
Doug
Thanks Doug, I’m glad you liked it. I know a few guys like that too. They are great to have around but every now and then a girls needs a bit of totally unnecessary, superficial newness 🙂
Try being married to doctor. Our spouses always have to compete for attention. Wait, let me see if I still have a husband.
Tracey
I can imagine, but at least you are doing some wonderful 🙂
I certainly admire Gerry’s focus and determination. Evidently, she needed some of her knobs twisted and turned once in a while to keep them in good working order too. Cute & clever.
Indeed, everything needs a little oiling now and again 😉
A clever and amusing story! That was some obsession of Gerry’s. On the other hand, it”s rather sad to think that he and his wife had drifted so far apart because of it. Still, his wife – make that former wife – seemed to have coped with the situation extremely well! Nice one, 🙂
They had certainly grown apart – hopefully both can be happy in their own worlds 🙂
I had a great uncle like this, for real. He lived to 90 and had a good long marriage, so clearly he had a bit more balance than Gerry, but I admire this character’s commitment otherwise. 😉
Sounds like he had a better handle on reality! Thanks for reading 🙂
So busy fixing things, he didn’t see what was going not going on…
Thanks Dale 🙂
This reminded me of the life of Fred Dinah – steeplejack and mechanical engineer – he too loved fixing things and making things using old bits found in scrapyards etc., and treated his wife in much the same way. You’ve told a multi-layered story very well, loved the last two sentences.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Is he the man who was on TV quite a bit?
Yes he was. He operated a steam engine too as a hobby, which he took to fairs and it pulled a sort of caravan that he and the family lived in when they travelled about the country. I got the impression he wouldn’t have noticed if his wife moved on!!
That was funny. I can’t say “too bad” for him in reference to her leaving him as he hadn’t even noticed, except “too bad” maybe for her. At least she was smart enough to take some of his “works” with her.
I’m sure he’ll notice sooner or later … or maybe not!
I love your story. The ending is so funny and such a surprise – he didn’t even notice she was gone. Hilrious.
Thanks Margaret 🙂
Happy the Pirzig way with a touch of monk to it, good for him ;;;
and for you, good one, Tay.
Thank you Tay 🙂
so wonderful. Particular love the last line! I guess you could say she did indeed find a new hobby
She certainly did 😉