Listen to Your Mama!

After the latest in a string of heartbreaks, Joe’s mother told him, “Running after beautiful women will be your downfall, Joseph! Just find a good girl with high virtues and get married already!” Joe was trying not to listen to her advice, but the stridulations in her voice prevented him simply toning her out.

He thought that to attach himself to a homely woman was a step backwards, for he now had a great job and made a lot more than the pittance that he used to earn. He wasn’t going to settle for anyone less than a high-maintenanced woman.

He saw himself as having a resilient heart, willing to wait however long it took, and although he’d had great hope for the last relationship, it, too, had ended up all wet. Then, he got sick and couldn’t get zilch from the high-maintenanced women.

They treated him like he was covered in slime. After that rude awakening, he decided that maybe Mama was right, that substance was better than superficiality.

After an informal date with his friend, Jennifer, the person who had volunteered to wash his dishes when he was sick and who smelled like his favorite flower, roses, he chose virtue or looks. And yet, as Jennifer walked down the aisle at their wedding, he realized that in her honesty and compassion for others, she was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever dated.

Fictional story written for Wordle #194 from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie, The word prompts are in bold print. Fandango prompt is Slime. Ragtag prompt is Zilch. Your Daily Prompt is Pittance.