No Going Back
It took him three days of hard work, but it was finally over. He smiled and looked at his creation as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Around him, the neighbors were staring in awe. Now they could see what had kept him so busy. But his wife's reaction would be the most intense of them all.
She went out and stared at the thing. Right when he saw the expression on her face, he knew it was on: there was no turning back.
Eric Williams
Life had been good to Eric Williams. He lived in Marquette, Michigan, with his gorgeous wife, named Mary, and his daughter. He couldn't really complain about anything except for one detail: Marquette could get too cold during the winters.
The town was near Lake Superior, one of the biggest lakes in America. This had one consequence: winters and falls could sometimes be really cold. But he soon devised a plan to make the freezing cold a little bit easier to endure.
Happy Wife, Happy Life
Eric had a metal plate in his leg; this came from his injuries during his time in the Army. When it was too cold, the plates would cause him a great deal of pain and make it difficult for him to walk. On top of that, his wife's immune system was not the strongest, and she would often get quite sick in the winter.
So he set himself a goal of thinking of something to make his and his wife's lives easier. But his attempts to tackle this problem wouldn't be well received by his neighbors.
Expertise
During his time in the army, Eric learned a lot of skills, including some carpentry and how to build temporary structures. He thought he would be able to build something to fix the issue with the cold weather.
However, the thing that he built would attract a lot of attention for his neighbors.
Drafting His Plan
Eric spent days working on the designs for his project. He would sit down in his study and stay there for hours, in front of a paper and his pen. After he was done with the design, he tried to recount what he would need to make it real.
All he had to do now was get the supplies and get to work. However, one day, when he was coming back home from buying some of the materials, he was spotted by his neighbor.
Supplies
He had a list with everything he would need to build his structure. He wanted to have a stash of all the materials before the cold season started. He went to a hardware store nearby and got himself some panes of glass, wooden beams, and gravel.
But when he was back home, taking all the materials out from his trunk, this one nosy neighbor popped his head over the fence to check out what he was up to.
Ridicule
Eric put on his gloves and started setting up the foundation for the structure with a friend of his in whom he had confided about the project. But suddenly, he heard someone laughing; he turned back and he spotted his neighbor staring at him.
“What’s your problem?” Eric asked him. “Look at you trying to build something in this freezing weather, what are you doing anyway?” Eric just ignored his neighbor's rudeness, and he didn't reply. But after a while, more neighbors started coming out of their houses.
A Strange Spectacle
Eric noticed this; now all the neighborhood was watching him like it was some sort of spectacle. Why were those people treating him as a laughing stock while he was working his tail off out in the cold?
But he knew that when he was done, he would show them. He knew that he would be the one to get the last laugh.
Coming Together
Eric placed the beams into the ground and set up his window pains too. Now, it was starting to take a shape similar to what he had drawn in his designs. But his neighbors still didn't know what to expect.
Everyone was looking at him with a grin like he was some sort of clown. But he wasn't there to amuse them. And in the end, he would prove them wrong and be the object of their envy.
Continuing The Next Day
The next day, it was Saturday, which meant that Eric could spend all day working on his structure. He kept doing his thing all day, enduring the cold the best he could. It was almost over. He was excited to see his project complete.
He had dug out the ground and set up the wooden structures and glass windows. Now, it looked a little bit like some sort of small shack.
Finished
It had taken him three days but he was finally finished. He wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled. The neighbors around him looked on in shock. Finally it was clear what it was. Now his wife could enjoy some warmth whenever she needed it.
But what had he built for his family to stay warm?
A Hot Tub
Jealousy ran through every bone of his neighbors’ bodies as they looked at what he had built. It was a hot tub! He had looked at countless videos to figure out how to build it. He could also use the sauna to treat his old injuries.
But what did his wife think?
Appreciation
Eric excitedly called his wife out to look at what he had built. She came out and couldn’t believe what he had done for her even after being married for 15 years. The neighbors watched on in silence as she hugged him.
The small structure was quite impressive for a single man to build.
Cold Front
Just as Eric had speculated, a cold front rolled in less than a week later and the whole time he and his wife enjoyed their hot indoor hot tub with margaritas. The window panes would steam up and give them privacy from their prying neighbors.
The hard work that went into it was well worth the labor and he was happy to do it for his wife. But what about his neighbors?
The Last Laugh
Even though they had been laughing just days earlier while they watched him labor away at a project they thought was a waste of time, now that he was enjoying the fruits of his labor they watched in envy as the cold winter wind blew through the suburb.
Eric even smiled at his neighbor the next time he went out to the hot tub. But instead of laughing, he had a scowl on his face. That’s when Eric knew he truly had the last laugh.