An allegory of niggles

Steven's wife could not understand why her husband never spoke civilly to her at the dinner table.

When he turned to his left, to look at his wife with whom he was very much in love, a herniated disc in his lower back rubbed uncomfortably against a nerve.

Steven had never thought of the complaint as anything other than a mild irritation but years of , evenings spent eating with his wife made him associate her face with pain. Nightly, his affection was eroded and, unable to understand the source of his irritation himself, became sad and withdrawn in his lover's presence.

She left in their 13th year of marriage.

If only they'd managed to change place.

Or known a good chiropractor.