short story

CURTAIN
RODS ---

On the
first day, she sadly packed her belongings into boxes, crates
and suitcases.

On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things.

On
the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful
dining-room table, by candle-light; she put on some soft background
music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar,and a bottle of
spring-water.


When she'd finished, she went into each and every room
and deposited a few half-eaten shrimps dipped in caviar into the hollow
center of the curtain rods.

She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.

On the fourth day,
the husband came back with his new girlfriend, and at first
all was bliss.

Then, slowly, the house began to smell.
They
tried everything; cleaning, mopping, and airing-out the place.

Vents
were checked for dead rodents, and carpets were steam cleaned.

Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters,
during which time the two had to move out for a few days, and in the end
they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting. Nothing worked!

People stopped coming over to visit.

Repairmen refused to
work in the house.

The maid quit.

Finally, they
couldn't take the stench any longer, and decided they had to move, but a
month later - even though they'd cut their price in half - they
couldn't find a buyer for such a stinky house.

Word got out, and eventually even the local Realtors refused to
return their calls.

Finally, unable to wait any longer for a
purchaser, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to
purchase a new place.

Then the ex-wife called the man and asked how things were going. He
told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely and said
that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her
divorce settlement in exchange for having the house.

Knowing she could
have no idea how bad the smell really was, he agreed on a price that was
only 1/10th of what the house had been worth ... but only if she would
sign the papers that very day.
She agreed, and within two hours his lawyers delivered the completed
paperwork.