In 2017, when I learned that Hugh Hefner would be buried next to Marilyn Monroe, and that he’d bought the mausoleum compartment back in 1992, it bothered me to distraction. It seemed so disrespectful. Encroaching. Predatory.
Gross.
I didn’t do anything with the anger (there was nothing to do but express disgust), but the ire remained, an ember not-quite smothered.
Years later, that dormant ember got oxygen from Mslexia‘s call for submissions for their “World’s Wife” section: A 500-word fictional prose monologue in the voice of the wife, mistress, sister, daughter, mother of a famous real or fictional person. We’re inviting strong voice pieces suitable for both page or performance. Please give your piece a title that explains the relationship.
I recalled the burial arrangement. The outrage flickered, a small flame.
Around the same time, I came across the term limerence: a state of intense often involuntary romantic attachment to a person who does not reciprocate the feelings and that is often characterized by excessive preoccupation and obsessive behaviors.
The flame was now a full-on fire. I had the potential outlet, a word limit, the subjects, and title: Norma, limerence of Hugh Hefner.
I hoped to write a succinct howl, a reproach that could turn my disgust into action. A last word.
I dove into research, the disbelief and fury growing the more I learned. The facts were awful.
Beyond the fantastical element of having Monroe speak from beyond the grave, there’s nothing fictionalized in this piece of flash fiction.
How I wish the final paragraphs could go from fiction to fact, too.
Thank you to Maxine Davies and the editors at Mslexia for publishing this piece, and especially for accepting my creative interpretation of the assignment.
Read Norma, Limerence of Hugh Hefner >
Photo courtesy waltarrrrr via Flickr Creative Commons
Sarah Pascarella | Writer 