Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: 24 Hours (01/27/11)
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TITLE: Perspective | Previous Challenge Entry
By Diane Loew
02/03/11 -
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While in the shower her mind raced ahead to tomorrow morning. She would be up and have her shower by this time and on the way to the airport.
She stepped into her black slacks and reached for her turquoise silk blouse. She saw her outfit for tomorrow hanging on the door knob of the dresser. Even her shoes were impatiently waiting for her to slip them on and head to the airport.
On the kitchen counter Sharon observed the gooey cinnamon rolls that would be shared tomorrow morning. They were his favorite. He hadn’t had them since he left 18 months ago.
As she sipped her coffee she thought how can it be only 8:00 AM? She felt like she had been up for hours, yet the morning crawled by.
She placed her cup in the sink, grabbed her keys and headed for work.
The day passed painfully slow and she had a hard time re-directing her eyes from the huge grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the bank lobby where she worked. More than once she stopped to concentrate to see if the pendulum was still swinging.
Her “to do” list was waiting on the counter at home when she returned. A quick change of clothing and she attacked the list which included making soup. His favorite.
Now there was nothing left to do, but wait until it was time to go to bed and hope to sleep the night through. It was going to be a long night.
Kelly jolted awake. It was 7:00 AM. In a few short hours her life would change. 24 hours to be exact.
Her feet dangled off the side of the bed and her head fell into her hands. She raked her hands through her hair. Something she did when she was worried or fretful.
She hurried to the shower. Her last one before the end.
That panicky feeling surrounded her again and she felt like she couldn’t get to his side fast enough.
She backed her car out of the driveway and just missed hitting the neighbor’s trash can. She realized she missed garbage day, again. Normally, he took care of that.
Once on the street it seemed everyone was out to slow her down. She honked her horn and dodged around a car just in time to be caught by a red light. She lowered her head onto the steering wheel and fought back the tears.
It was 9:00 already and she still wasn’t there.
There were no parking spots near the hospital. She drove around the parking lot two times hoping someone would leave. “I’m wasting time” she thought. She gave up, drove out of the lot and down the road to the city parking ramp.
She parked, locked the car door and took off on a fast walk. By the time she reached the hospital she was running. It always felt like she had to hurry faster, the closer she got to seeing him.
She waited for the elevator impatiently tapping her foot.
Finally, the door opened, she walked in and stabbed number 3. She checked her watch. 10:00 AM.
“I know I should have never left last night. What was I thinking?” Kelly berated herself. But, the doctor ordered her home for a few hours to rest.
She walked into the room and if it wasn’t for all the tubes coming out of his body Ken would look like he did every Sunday afternoon, lying on the couch “watching” football – with his eyes closed. She smiled at the discussion they had about his napping/TV viewing ability. Now, there was no TV, no football and no discussion.
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. Her once strong husband was reduced to a shell of a man. He looked the same, but as the doctors had told her “He’s no longer here.”
He remained alive by the machines keeping guard by his bed.
She had agreed that tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM the plug would be disconnected.
The day slipped through her fingers like sand at the beach. “Stop” she wanted to scream at every person who walked by taking a part of the day with them. She was fearful to blink for each blink brought the inevitable closer.
As the shadows fell, she wanted more time, just some more time. The night would race on. The end was near.
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Remember to write outnumbers under ten and numbers that start a sentence should be written out.
Again great job with building suspense and including an important message.
The story is about 2 different women - one wanting the time to go fast to see someone she hadn't seen for 18 months and the other wanted time to slow down because she was saying goodbye to someone she loved.
Thanks for taking the time to share.