Loyal, Not Stupid « Suddenly they all died. The end.

Loyal, Not Stupid

A short story by Beverly Safranski Delgado

Stan and Millie appeared to be a normal married couple, hardworking and loving. Millie had a great trait, loyalty. This pretty much made the marriage work, because Stan had a roving eye.

Millie knew he had an affair with his secretary, but she never said a word. Her friend Judy kept trying to get her to confront him. Never happened.

Stan had another obsession, money. He loved money. I don’t mean spending, I mean collecting. He kept it under the mattress. He’d count it every day. He’d touch it and look at it. Once a year he’d put it all in the bank and start over again.

This was a hardship on Millie because he was so frugal (cheap), but she rose to the occasion and did without. Like I said, she was loyal.

After forty years of marriage, Stan sat Millie down. He wanted her to make a promise to him. He had saved fifty thousand dollars. He considered it to be his, not hers. So he made her promise that when he died she would put the money in the casket with him. Being the loyal wife, she agreed.

Years later the inevitable happened and Stan passed away. At the end of the funeral, Millie put an envelope in the casket. Her friend Judy watched in amazement. On the ride home she asked, “Did you put that money in the casket?”

Millie replied, “Yes, I did. I wrote a check.”

Beverly Safranski Delgado, born in 1938, lives in Spring Valley, IL with her two cats, George and Charlie. She is the mother of four and grandmother of eight. Writing short stories is a past-time she enjoys. Tell us what you think: editor@northernsun-print.com, 641-473-2102.