Bill Hits the Wall
Download the Word document verison - 21KB
All my work is protected by copyright.
You may download the following works for your own use,
but do not reprint them without written permission.

Bill is cold. His face is cold. His hands are cold. His feet feel like ice. But worst of all is the cold inside.
He walks very fast. Snow is in his shoes. Snow is blowing up his sleeves. Snow is getting inside his collar.
He has to go home. But he does not want to. He does not want to see his wife, Jan. What she said to him makes him feel cold inside. Even colder than he feels outside.

He had put on his coat and left the house. He wanted to get away from her cold eyes. But he can see her eyes in his mind now.

At the corner, he sees a car coming. He turns his back to the wind. He waits for the car to go by. Then he crosses the street.

"I can't stay out in the cold all night." He is talking to himself. "I have to go back. Maybe she was just mad. Maybe she did not mean what she said. Maybe she still loves me." Bill turns around and starts walking home again.

"Or maybe she could begin to love me again. I could ask her what she wants. I could ask her what I should do to make her love me again."

All at once he feels angry. "I break my butt to give her everything. Does she thank me for it? She does not. She cries and says she is not happy. She says she feels that her life has nothing in it. She wants to do something. She wants to be somebody."

Bill stops walking to stomp snow from his shoes. "All I ask is for her to keep the house neat and keep herself pretty. And to make a nice dinner for me when I come home. Is that so much?"

Bill is almost home now. His anger is making him warm in spite of the wind and snow. He walks faster.

At his house, he opens the door and walks in. "Jan!" he calls. "I have had it with you! You quit this crap and start being the wife you should be.

Jan does not answer. He calls again. Still no answer. Damn that stubborn woman!

Bill goes into the kitchen. He smells fresh coffee. He hears it perking in the pot. Then he sees the note. He picks it up and reads it. The note says:

"Dear Bill,
This is the last coffee I will make for you. I have called a taxi.
I will come back Saturday to pack all my things. I found a small apartment.
I also found a job. I start work tomorrow.

You do not care how I feel about my life. So I will have to work
things out for myself.

Good-bye,
Jan
P. S. You will find some cake to go with the coffee in the cake saver."

---

Questions for discussion:
Why did Bill's wife leave him? How do you think Bill feels after he reads the note? Has anything like this ever happened to you? What would you do in his place?

Writing exercise:
Write a letter to Bill. Tell him what you think he should do. Or write a letter to Jan. Tell her how you feel about what she did.