THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE ~，<br > 1<br > He was sound asleep， lyin~ spread-eaFled on his<br > lmck; his mouth hung open and spittle drooled down<br > llis c}li~. Little pieces of Fray lint stuck to the thick<br > stul)l)le on his cheek. As usual， he was snorin~z h)udly.<br > I flicked nlv ashes and sighed， asking inyselfthe same<br > ~tllcsti~n every woman has asked herselL at least<br > once， {hlrin~ the course of her marriage. "Why，" I<br > whispered ollt l()ud， "did I ever marry this schle-<br > iniel?"<br > F()r the litb (~t hie I c(mldn t remend)er; all I coldd<br > renlenll)er was the joyous sarcasm in nlv moth~~l ，<br > v~ic e when I t()ld her I had agreed to t)e the 1)ride of<br > Sexnlour Weizentraul)owitzn/an.<br > " l)t)~ t tell me， Bamt)i Iris Goldt)loom， that a|l:er<br > twel~tv-five years ()f causin~ me n(~thill~ t)ut a~grava-<br > tioll mid heartache and tsllris~atter makillg st~cl~ a big<br > ~e~illal~ over tl~is t)~)vfriend and that boyfriend" after<br > I had to p~t ~I) with tt~e n~ot(~rcvcle maniac， the hippie<br > witl~ tl~e hair， the pothead. "<br > Janet s， I thi~k the hippie was the pothead，" mv<br > titther conectlv p~i~ted out.<br > "tlippie， schmippieI . she exclaimed" ， " . "I can t 1)e-<br > lievc n~v ears; n~v o~]y daughter is finally ctoi~ the<br > ~， tl~i~ I ve 1)etch t)e~in~ her to do all her lit~!"<br > "Y;:s， Mon~，" l ~r~~aned， not havi~g the st~)mach ft~r<br >