Leaving Home
She put on her coat and stared at the silver sky thoughtfully before slipping on her black pumps and picking up the suitcase she left by the door. The lock clicked sadly open and she stepped a hosed foot out the door.
“Mommy?” a little girl cried sleepily down the staircase towards the open door. “Don’t leave. Please.”
She walked into the room again and shut the door against the cold. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll be back soon.”
The little girl shook her head and nuzzled her face into her teddy bear. “You and Daddy were yelling last night. He said he would kill you if he saw you with Uncle Tim again and you told him to stop drinking. I was scared, Mommy. You said you would leave,” the little girl started crying and looked up at her mother with scared red eyes.
“Angel I wouldn’t leave you. I’m just going across the river to live with Uncle Tim. I’ll be back to see you at school. If you don’t like it here, you can always come to live with me over there. This isn’t for forever,” she hugged the girl and tried to suppress tears. “Mommy will be back for you, ok?”
The little girl didn’t answer, but buried her face into her mother’s coat.
“Mommy has to go now,” she said standing up. The little girl clung to her leg, but as soon as she opened the door, she pried the little girl’s arms away. “I’ll be back tonight, ok?”
Walking away from the little protests, she silently closed the door. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the suitcase and started walking towards the bridge.
