Sigh..More Writing Criticism

The call came in at precisely three eleven am. It was from my ex-wife whose name I will not reveal for a number of very good reasons. Once you read this story you will understand.

‘’Alan, are you awake, I had to call you, it is of the utmost importance.’’ The truth was if I wasn’t awake before I was now. ‘’What’s the problem, are you okay? Do you need me to call an ambulance? Tell me, tell me, what’s going on.’’ There was a silence on the phone. The pause lasted a good ten seconds.

‘’Thanks for your generous offer of calling an ambulance, I am physically fine, but mentally I’m hurting.’’ I started thinking that maybe the pandemic had really taken a toll on her and I felt terrible. She was the mother of my son, and I always tried to get along with her. ‘’Alan, you have unfortunately caused me some serious distress.’’

I was dismayed, what could I have done. I once told a dirty joke featuring Little Billy, but I couldn’t think of anything else. ‘’I apologize for whatever I may have said or done to cause you so much discomfort, I promise you I didn’t mean anything.’’

I thought I could hear a ‘’hrumph’’ on the other end of the cell. ‘’It’s not what you’ve said, it’s what you’ve written. Have you ever gone back and read any of the short stories you’ve been writing and posting. One of the last ones was about skid marks in…