I now think of him as a genius who wanted to end his marriage, but wanted his wife to look like the bad guy. He knew she wouldn't kick any puppies. Now that I reread the story, I see all three of his commands could have been requests to harm him in some way, he is a masochist. She finally figured it out. Maybe he'd been saying stuff like that to her for 40 years.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my story!!!
Not being able to speak your true name or nature, not even to those you love best. In that story, I suddenly sympathize with him a lot more. Thank you for another way to look at it :)
Right?! They love each other. But both want out of the conventional marriage, both want to speak their true names. Maybe it's a love story after all.
Who knows, maybe some other prompt will see us six months into the future, when they've had a bit of therapy, and they're ready to make a go of it being their most true, authentic selves. ;)