This writing exercise was in the form of a diary reply made by the husband in the short story, The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant.
Women! Can't live with em, can't live without em, but lately I wish for a break from these confusing creatures. It started as a lovely evening, I was eagerly headed home to present my beautiful wife a lavish invitation to a ball that we had been requested to attend. I soon arrived at my residence and flung open the door and said with the most pleasing tone, "Look dear, I have something for you," and placed the lacy letter in her dainty hand. With a look of pleasure she snatched the envelope out of my hands and hastily tore it open to reveal the contents of the paper, her eyes skimmed the page, she turned to me with tears of joy in her eyes and threw her arms around me and exclaimed, "Oh darling, how wonderful! We're going to a ball!"
At least, that's what I expected, instead half way down the page she paused and blandly looked up to me and said in the most degrading tone, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Shocked and wide eyed I asked her, "What seems to be the problem dear?"
She burst into tears and whined, "I don't have any opulent dresses to show off! Oh, how the other women will laugh at me."
I couldn't believe that this petty worry was the cause of her distress! I should've left her writhing on the floor to stew in her complaints but I found myself at her side trying to console her. My mind raced to find a solution to this trivial issue. Finally, I had come up with a solution. It would include a great sacrifice on my part but it was a sacrifice I had to make in order to silence the constant complaints. I took my wife by her hand and said, "I have some money saved up that should cover a new dress."
She immediately snapped out of her trance, "Oh dear husband thank you to the ends of the earth!" How dramatic I thought to myself, I should be the one throwing fits! I had saved that money for months now to buy a gun to try at the shooting range. The money was now in her possession she used it the next day to buy an extravagant dress. She came back and tried it on for the night of the ball. She stood before the mirror with a pleasant smile. I smiled to myself, I'm relieved that the insanity was over. I looked back up to tell my spouse it was near time to depart for the ball but her blissful expression had changed! She now glared at her reflection sourly. Bracing for the worst, I asked "What seems to be the problem?"
"I have no jewelry to join my dress, I will surely be scoffed at," she replied, as her fingers ran over a phantom necklace.
This woman cannot be pleased! What more could she want? Suddenly a bright idea popped into my head, I waltzed over to her and suggested that she adorn herself with flowers but she sneered at the idea, even though it was a current trend. She then suggested that she ask one of her wealthy friends to lend her some jewels.
"If that will make this nonsense stop!" I thought to myself.
I told her that it wasn't a bad idea and she headed off at once. Not too long after she came back with a very opulent piece. It was a silver chain encrusted with diamonds, of course she had selected the most expensive looking one!
"Look dear, isn't it marvelous!" She said, beaming at the necklace.
Now when you look at her you may see a beautiful young lady but all I see is a jewel pecking magpie.
We both dressed ourselves for the party and accompanied our cab. Shortly, we arrived at the extravagant ball. As we stepped out of the cab we were greeted by several dapperly dressed party guests. We chattered with our peers and tasted a few hors' de oeuvres. My wife received many comments and compliments on her dashing dress and sparkling necklace. Her face lit up with joy.
"Maybe this wasn't so bad," I smiled to myself.
It came time to depart our friends, we said our goodbyes and then exited the grand ball. We entered our cab and headed home. My wife grinned most of the way, we both made our own comments on the party as we approached our house. We got out of the cab and paid the driver, we headed inside to get undressed. I turned to smile at my wife but her smile had retrogressed into a appalling horror.
"What in the name of all things holy could she possibly be displeased with!?" I screamed inside my mind and then calmed myself down, "STAY CALM," I assured myself.
I cleared my throat "W-what seems to be the matter dear?"
"The Necklace is gone!" she replied with panic in her tone.
She cant be serious...
"Oh, no it's not!" I almost shouted, "Not for long!"
I grabbed my coat and my wife's and and lead her out the door.
We once more arrived at the place of the ball, We ran through the courtyard and through the foyer We searched high and low, in every nook and cranny. We asked the managers, the maids and a few stray party guests, none of which had seen the necklace. My spouse dramatically collapsed on the ballroom floor and sobbed into her hands. "Oh, when my dear friend finds that I have lost her precious jewels she will surely never forgive me!"
Suddenly she sprang to her feet, her tears had ceased as if nothing had happened.
"But, she doesn't have to know!" She announced
"Now dear-" I tried to snap her out of it.
"We can buy one just like it!" She laughed hysterically "She wont know the difference!" This woman was clearly insane.
"Honey, you must be joking."
She suddenly grabbed me by the hand and led me back out to the cab. "To the nearest jewelry store!" She told the driver. Before I could protest we took off. We arrived at the high end store my wife described the necklace to one of the employees and they showed her to a clear glass case which the replica was held. It looked exactly like the lost necklace. "Yes, that's the one!" She told the attendant. Glancing back at the case she saw the price tag and shrank back, It was far beyond the money we had.
"See dear," I stepped in, "lets just go."
Her sad, puppy dog eyes begged me to help her out of this mess, so I agreed to put up our assets as collateral for a loan to buy the necklace for replacement. This decision was the nail in my coffin, our lives changed forever after that.
The next day she took the replaced necklace to its owner and the toil of repayment began. We
had worked for years to pay back our loan. We ended up losing our house and other niceties. We lived in the attic of a close friend. My once beautiful wife had lost her soft demeanor due to the years of work and turmoil. We revisited the owner of the necklace today and came clean with the whole situation. She cried in despair over the condition of her beloved friends and said "My dears your confession is many years too late, the necklace was but a fake and could've been replaced with only a pile of cash from your wallet!"
Needless to say, this truthful bit of information made our souls sink even deeper. Our lives had been wasted away for a fake necklace.
MORALS OF THE STORY:
Be honest
Don't be prideful
Be content with what you have
Proper communication is a key component for avoiding disasters
It's OK to admit your wrong and need help
Be thankful for any good thing that comes your way
Petty complaining steals joy
Your inner and outer beauty can be diminished by your vices
When you use manipulative ways, they tend to bite you back
When you allow yourself to be discontent, you drag others down with you whether you realize it or not.
Too much focus on the real or supposed opinions of others leads to strife
