Short Fiction by O. Henry

Reconciliation

Words you’ll meet in this part (11)

reconciliation

The act of restoring friendly relations between individuals or groups.

personae

The characters or roles played by an actor in a performance.

boudoir

A woman's private bedroom or dressing room.

viola

A stringed musical instrument slightly larger than a violin, with a lower pitch.

dwell

To live or reside in a place.

quarrel

An angry argument or disagreement.

bickerings

Petty arguments or quarrels, often over trivial matters.

strife

Conflict or struggle between opposing forces.

primrose

A flowering plant of the genus Primula, often with yellow, pink, or white blossoms.

bliss

Perfect happiness or joy.

biff

A slang term for a punch or hit, often in boxing or fighting.

Short Fiction by O. Henry 11 new words

Reconciliation

A One-Act Drama

Dramatis Personae

• A Houston married couple.

Scene—Her boudoir.

He	And now, Viola, since we understand each other, let us never fall out again. Let us forget the bitter words that we have spoken one to another, and resolve to dwell always in love and affection. Places his arm around her waist.
She	Oh, Charles, you don’t know how happy you make me! Of course we will never quarrel again. Life is too short to waste in petty bickerings and strife. Let us keep in the primrose path of love, and never stray from it any more. Oh, what bliss to think you love me and nothing can ever come between us! Just like the old days when we used to meet by the lilac hedge, isn’t it? Lays her head on his shoulder.
He	Yes, and when I used to pull blossoms and twine them in your hair and call you Queen Titania.
She	Oh, that was nice. I remember. Queen Titania? Oh, yes, she was one of Shakespeare’s characters, who fell in love with a man with a donkey’s head.
He	H’m!
She	Now don’t. I didn’t mean you. Oh, Charles, listen to the Christmas chimes! What a merry day it will be for us. Are you sure you love me as well as you used to?
He	More. Smack.
She	Does ’em fink me sweet?
He	Smack. Smack!
She	Wuz ’em’s toodleums?
He	Awful heap. Who do you wuv?
She	My ownest own old boy.
Both	Smack!
He	Listen, the bells are chiming again. We should be doubly happy, love, for we have passed through stormy seas of doubt and anger. But now, a light is breaking, and the rosy dawn of love has returned.
She	And should abide with us forever. Oh, Charles, let us never again by word or look cause pain to each other.
He	Never again. And you will not scold any more?
She	No, dearest. You know I never have unless you gave me cause.
He	Sometimes you have become angry and said hard things without any reason.
She	Maybe you think so, but I don’t. Lifts her head from his shoulder.
He	I know what I’m talking about. Takes his arm from her waist.
She	You come home cross because you haven’t got sense enough to conduct your business properly, and take your spite out on me.
He	You make me tired. You get on your ear because you are naturally one of the cain-raising, blab-mouthed kind and can’t help it.
She	You old crosspatch of a liar from Liarsville, don’t you talk to me that way or I’ll scratch your eyes out.
He	You blamed wildcat. I wish I had been struck by lightning before I ever met you.
She	Seizing the broom. Biff! biff! biff.
He	After reaching the sidewalk. I wonder if Colonel Ingersoll is right when he says suicide is no sin!

Curtain

Here, Known, Learning and Ignore only change this page. In your own library they are kept: a Known word is never underlined again, and a Learning one waits for you in My Words.

Save the words you learn

With a free account, the words you mark go to My Words, the underlines follow your level, and the book remembers where you stopped.

Create your free account