Three

by Chris Lihou

Three. How I hate that number. Two things happen, then I’m anxiously waiting, expecting the third thing to go wrong.

Image credit: Payam Moin Afshari on Unsplash

I know where my fear comes from. My baby sister, my mum’s third child, was born three weeks early and died three weeks later. I was three at the time. See? The number keeps popping up!

Then there was the time I was just thirteen, and three older boys insisted they teach me about sex. One by one, the three took their turn. I’ve told no one. Afterwards, I felt soiled and burned my underwear. Thankfully, I was three times lucky as three days later, I had my period.

My aversion to number three - I call it tri-phobia - makes reaching four of anything difficult. Like the time I wanted to dump my second boyfriend but didn’t want to risk a third. In the end, he dumped me for my best friend, so I tried again, despite my fears. I devised a “workaround” and chose a woman as my next lover. It turned out fine because, of course, it was my first lesbian affair. 

I’m now thirty-three, heaven forbid! I’ve decided to remain unmarried and have only two children. Better safe than sorry. You can see why. I don’t want to fail at two marriages (so many people do, right?) or risk a third child. I’m now seeing a lovely man, but I’m dreading our third anniversary. He knows about my tri-phobia. He says he’ll stop seeing me just before our anniversary and resume our relationship a month later. He is so empathetic.

Well, dear reader, this is now my third draft. I almost stopped after two.

I’m sure my story won’t succeed because of the three rewrites.

Perhaps I’ll be surprised.

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Chris Lihou

Chris is a retired engineer who, in 2020, following a serious medical diagnosis and treatment, found that writing short stories and poetry provided therapy and delight. His writings speak to the nature of our lives, its highs and lows, our pain and joy, our fantasies, life’s quirks and realities and even a bit of life’s silliness. He has self-published two compilations, Fifty More or Less and Fifty or More. Both are available on Amazon.