Morning all. I hope your week is going well. Mine has been pretty good over all. I was braced for an emergency but the emergency didn’t arrive and so there is a certain giddiness of spirit. Or as giddy as I get. Whatever the mood, it is still the morning and still time for the writing prompt. So time to get those brains moving and into writing mode. Fifteen minutes on the timer please and off we go.
I’m not sure this is the start to the story. I think it might start earlier. But as always I do like that moment where the old falls away and the new is an empty space in front. It can be exciting and terrifying all at once. Which makes it fun to write.
Thursday, October 15th: She buckled her seatbelt.
She buckled her seat belt. “Right,” She said to the empty car. “I’m going now.” She took a deep breath and let it out as she inserted her key into the ignition. The engine rumbled softly to life. She checked the mirrors and put her foot on the break. She then shifted into reverse and let her foot off the break to back out of the driveway.
She backed into the empty street, head turning to look left then right in case there was a last second daredevil racing down the quiet street at ten in the morning on a Tuesday.
It remained empty and she reached the street, shifted into drive and began moving away from the house in earnest. She reached the corner, turned on her turn signal indicating she was turning left and again looked both ways. The street outside the subdivision was deserted. It always was at this time of day. Those leaving filled the street until 8:45 am when they all magically disappeared as though 9 am was the witching hour. Then there would be a few brave souls out and about as the day edged into lunch time. Most of them would be clustered around the small shopping center where this feeder road met the main road. The main road then led to the highway.
The shopping center had a grocery store, two store front restaurants, one Mexican and one Asian fusion that mostly catered to take out orders. Ther was a coffee shop as well. As there was construction on the highway not far from the district mornings saw mud splattered trucks and heavy work vehicles lined up for coffee. Later they would return for lunch even if most of the local traffic remained elsewhere. Traffic wouldn’t pick up again until five and then the trickle of cars would be a flood until about 6:30 pm. Then the roads would be left to those who walked or ran through the neighborhood after work or dinner.
She reminded herself of the routine of it as she drove past the shopping center. Se told herself she was not sneaking out. She was doing nothing nefarious. She told everyone she was leaving and now she was. She timed her exit to take advantage of the open roads and lighter traffic.
The reminder didn’t help. She may have told them she was leaving but they would never believe she would. She was Tommy’s widow and therefore she must be taken care of by the family. She hadn’t much cared for Tommy’s family when he was alive. They were his family and she tolerated them. Moving back to the family house with him to take care of his parents was something that had to be done.
She accepted that and helped take care of them. In fact in their last years she was their primary care giver. She worked from home, her office needing only her laptop and an internet connection. It made her schedule more flexible so she was the one designated with getting his parents to doctor’s appointments and every other thing they needed. When they passed, they left the house to Tommy’s older brother. He was selling his house and she and Tommy were preparing to move to a different one. Before that transfer could be completed, Tommy died. She stayed in the house through the funeral arrangements, the settling of the estate.
She told the extended family that she was leaving and she knew they believed she found a house in the neighborhood. After all, the entire family lived in the same subdivision. It was practically a family enclave, why would she leave? She let out a short bark of laughter as she turned onto the highway ramp and accelerated to merge with traffic. Except there was not traffic and she slipped easily onto the interstate. Staying was slowly suffocating her. She had to leave, but even though all her responsibilities were done, she still felt guilty.
