Good morning and welcome to a chilly Tuesday morning. The windows are frosted, the coffee is brewing and I am ready to get started with the morning prompt. So without further ado, let’s get into it. Timers at the ready? Then let’s go.
Hmmm, this seems to almost fit with the prompt from yesterday. I think it might be because I was fiddling around with possible storylines for that one last night before I went to bed. Maybe it’s a carry over.
Tuesday, February 15th: He patted himself down making sure there was nothing he forgot.
He patted himself down making sure there was nothing he forgot. Wallet, check. Keys, check, He patted his coat feeling the papers crinkle slightly beneath the weight of his hand. Paperwork, check. His mouth went dry. This was it. Once he left there was no turning back.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward. He stepped out onto the front stoop turned and pulled the front door closed. He twisted the knob to make certain that it locked and then turned away from the house. He wouldn’t be coming back. His house keys had been taken off of the ring that morning and now sat on the small side table by the door on the other side of the locked door.
There was no going back. ‘Unless I break a window I suppose,’ he thought as he turned away. He smiled, his nerves easing back a little as he thought about breaking into the one place he tried so hard to escape.
He walked down the curved pathway to the drive and looked over his car. Inside was packed everything he owned. It wasn’t a large car, but in the end, he really didn’t own that much. That point had been driven home to him earlier in the month.
He shook his head and unlocked the driver’s side door. He slid behind the wheel, closed and locked his door and started the engine. He pulled out of the drive and turned onto the street. He wondered if he would be considered a coward for leaving this way, for sneaking out when everyone else was gone.
‘They shouldn’t be surprised,’ he thought as he turned again, his car aiming towards the interstate. For the past year, things had simply gotten worse. The disagreements had always been there but this past year they were daily things. The end result was that he simply didn’t belong here. He knew he never really had, but he tried. For the sake of family he tried. It had never been a good fit though. They were just different people.
He lifted a hand from the steering wheel and douched his chest hearing the papers crinkle slightly. There was comfort in that. He put his hand back on the wheel. He was starting an entirely new phase of his life now. There would be no fights, now daily accusations. He would be free and in a way, he hoped that he was setting them free. He frowned wondering if he should have said something at the end.
He shook his head as he merged onto the on ramp and then into the traffic heading west. Despite everything, he knew that if they knew he planned to leave they would try to convince him to stay. He knew this fact in his bones. And he knew there was a chance they could talk him out of it. It was scary starting out on his own. As much as he hated the fights, he had a place here. He knew everyone and everything and there was a comfort in familiarity. He would have to carve out every aspect of a new life where he was going and he had his doubts about his capabilities in that regard.
Still, fearful or not, he knew he couldn’t stay and so he snuck out like a coward. ‘It’s the only way,’ he thought. His thoughts kept tangling as fear and recriminations mingled. To drown them out, he turned on the radio.
Ten til Midnight 