Episode 31: A man on vacation with his friends is wary of their desire for sexual spontaneity. They would like to engage in mid life spouse swap, a vacation spouse swap, supposedly only for a night, but is that ever how it goes? Answer: No. Once one has a taste for polygamy, it is difficult to retrain one's buds, tastebuds that is.
Tim got the idea for this story after reading the book Rabbit Is Rich, the third book in the Rabbit, Run series by renowned, two time Pulitzer Prize winning author John Updike. It is important to keep that in mind. Tim got this idea from a Pulitzer Prize winning book, written by a Pulitzer Prize winning author. So any complaints about inappropriateness should be directed to John Updike and the board members of the Pulitzer Prize committee and not to Tim. Tim holds no responsibility.
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Everyone in his group was staring at him when he brought his line of sight down to that of the table. “I thought you wanted this, Steve,” Beatrice, Steve’s wife, said. Her hand still clenched Charles’s. “You always talk about spouse swapping.”
Steve rubbed his eyes. He’d been working on his temper as of late and saw this as an opportunity to quell the emotion, at least that’s how he should see it, as an opportunity, to work on quelling the emotion. For here it came. That anger, squeezing his stomach, tightening his chest, bringing heat to his face. Whether his face became as red as it felt Steve couldn’t be sure. For Steve couldn’t see his face. No one can see their face.
But he was calm. You’re calm, Steve told himself. Calm Steve. Even-keeled Steve. That’s who you are. Zen master Steve.
“Beatrice, darling,” Steve finally said. “The few times I’ve mentioned spouse swapping, and it has only been a few times, I’ve only brought it up to comment on its absurdity. Never once, NEVER ONCE, NOT EVEN ONE TIME, did I offer the slightest, SLIGHTEST indication that I was interested in partaking in the practice.”
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If you enjoy westerns like True Grit or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, check out Tim’s western novel, Dust, available on Amazon in eBook form in addition to being read on the podcast.
For other resources, visit timdrugan.com.