Lucid Waking

Archive for March 19th, 2010

Going

        “Mommy, how far away is London?”
        “Far,” the woman answered, keeping her nose in the newspaper. The headlines described government corruption, war, terrorism, and poverty, but she was more interested in the horoscopes. She read all of them—her own twice.
        The little girl next to her was sitting so close to the glass that her nose almost touched it. She could feel the colder temperature outside the window as they sped past acres of countryside. The sun was starting to set, so the world was too dark to discern any distinct shapes, but she pretended that the unicorns and deer were gathering at the edge of the wood to see her off.
        “Why do we have to leave and live in the city?” she asked.
        “Because your father is a bad man.”
        “Why can’t we live in the country?”
        “Maggie, I want no more out of you. Sit down and be quiet. We’ll go to dinner in a couple of minutes.”
        Two minutes turned into ten, and then thirty before the woman dragged her daughter to the dining car and ordered the first thing she thought her daughter might like. She reprimanded her for picking at her food and then ignored her when she asked for a slice of pizza. The arts critics didn’t like the new play that her ex-boyfriend was in. She smiled.
        “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
        “Then eat your dinner.”
        She flipped past that to the sports, but was uninterested in the scores. She stood up and took her daughter back to their car and put her to bed. She left the newspaper on the table. Once her daughter was asleep she went back to the dining car and ordered a bourbon. Sipping it calmly, she watched the last light of the dying sun and thought about her decision to leave her husband. She repeated over and over to herself that it was a good one and that she was better off without him.

Author’s comments on post 366: Not sure what to say about this. I hope you get something out of it, and something a little more up beat tomorrow. Or rather the day after tomorrow because I’ll be publishing more of The Wanderers tomorrow.