A Joyful Cup Of Sorrow (short story) and | Fractal Art Project

"For God's sake, give a guy a break?" Thinking that perhaps a scratch to the head would lead him to an amicable solution, Koulter reached up, but landed on an empty spot. "I'm about to start losing more than my hair," he mumbled. Upon hearing this, his girlfriend, Jenai, held the phone at a distance for several seconds, staring into it. Silence echoed from both ends of the line. Then breathing hard, she quipped, "I guess now you blame me for your head going bald?"

Although he didn't want to, Koulter suppressed a smile, suddenly remembering why he liked Jenai. Attractive features and ambitious goals were admirable qualities he valued. She envisioned becoming a lawyer. She was outstanding on her debate team. Her quick thinking was a plus in awkward situations.

But sometimes, when directed toward him, second thoughts sprang up questioning its usefulness.

He also remembered that society didn't allow for males to shed tears in an overwhelming array of circumstances. So his fist served as the blockade needed to sufficiently suffocate the agony and anger about to burst forth from his mouth and give credence to the fact that yes, he did feel the weight of his carelessness. And no, he wasn't going to own and swallow this whole mess.

A few seconds later, he swallowed hard for real.

He could sense an alternating lecture and blame session looming. Jenai geared up the way her debate team coach and her mom taught her as the appropriate attack first stance.

"Frankly, I'm baffled how you could have let this happen. You assured me you knew what you were doing being a science major and all! Completely threw me off my game! And I, like a dummy believed you." He could imagine her stance right now. He wanted to laugh outright. But this was serious.

Now, Koulter was speechless. He had no usual comeback. In fact, he was at a loss himself how this accident occurred. He was still thinking when suddenly the phone clicked dead. Jenai had heard enough of his excuses. And frankly, he'd run out. He tried to think back to their freshman semester the past six months at college.

It happened the night we all went too far. At least this was the consensus reached by the majority of us still too young to realize that the pull-out method suggested by upperclassmen was not the most effective form of family planning. Especially if one wanted to immediately advance his or her education beyond secondary school.

He shook off the confusion. It didn't matter now how it happened. It had happened. He got dressed and headed over to Jenai's apartment. Good thing her roommate was out for the evening.

She handed him the proof.

^Source

When you hear something like that happening to your friends, you sympathize, all the while berating them for their stupidity.

Koulter wanted to call it a lapse. But his dad warned him not to listen to his friends and use common sense. It pure and simple laziness on his part, he reasoned. Then the switch came on.

He had a feeling something deeper was going on in his girlfriend's mind for the part she played in the episode. Couldn't be, he reasoned. Jenai didn't have any intentions along those lines. She had plans that didn't include motherhood in the next few years.

And he didn't dare tell her his suspicions. He valued their relationship too much to mess that up.

No matter which side either one of them looked to cast blame, that fact that when the announcement comes that your lifestyle will perhaps forever change due to one stupid mistake, your actual lives flash before you. Literally. All the "what if's" continuously circulate giving you a chance to either evaluate the situation properly or drown in your suds.

And that's what Koulter did after learning the news. He left Jenai's apartment citing the need to think. No sooner than he drove off, he called his closest friend. Not the one who told him about the "pull out method". However, no amount of suds or friends commiserating with him could fix what he and Jenai were about to embark upon, if they chose to do so.

They both needed time alone to think about what they wanted going forward.

Later, Koulter called Jenai to meet the next day. The time of reflection disappeared as they planned to forge ahead together. Several options they considered that included both sets of parents being involved if they desired.

Their future plans weren't placed on hold. They decided they could do both with their new addition keeping them mindful of what can happen you don't do your research before plunging ahead.

Several months ago, during a late night drawing session with Apophysis 2.09 Fractal Rendering program, the completed image took a playful turn. The fractal art resembled someone crying.

As I previously discussed, Apophysis 2.09 is a Windows application that is open sourced and utilized for rendering fractal flames. This program can also design and edit the drawing before rendering.

Below are my pure fractals:

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A story immediately took shape. I began working on it, then stopped. However, I picked it up again and completed it in my attempt to figure out why the person was crying. I hope you like my story.

Thanks for taking the time to view my post.

Thanks,
@justclickindiva

Happy rest of the week everyone with whatever your endeavors.