Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: BEGIN (01/06/22)
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TITLE: Good Morning! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jennifer Percell
01/13/22 -
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Coffee smells stronger here. Just a thin wall between my bed and the kitchen allows the smell and morning sounds to wake me. I lay frozen with uncertainty.
How does one start a new life? I hear Katie pouring her coffee, my roommate is Katie, or is she an apartment mate? What can I eat for breakfast? I hadn’t thought about buying any dishes.
I glance at the posters on the three-drawer metal cabinet beside the bed. They were the only familiar thing in the room. Two new pairs of underwear and one bra in the top drawer,one pair of socks in the middle. I have left the bottom drawer for the t-shirt I am wearing to
sleep in. On the bright side I won’t lose any time choosing what to wear, only two shirts, one skirt and one pair of slacks hang on the borrowed hangars in the tiny closet. I had left with the
posters in a grocery sack and the clothes I had on, a church friend had provided the new clothes.
Only my eyes have moved, my body lies in the hypervigilant pose of all the mornings I have known. Waiting, listening, always sensing the mood, not willing to be startled. With a deep breath I realize they are not here, they don’t have any idea where I am. This day that
seemed impossible has come. Turning my head to see every corner of this clean, safe space I inhale coffee, fresh sheets and chilly air, as I exhale fear, tension and old expectations.
I have never woken up in a basement room before, it is warm here. I stretch and feel aspasm of excitement. The blanket Katie loaned me falls off my mattress on the floor. I didn’t understand all of her apologies last night for ‘the bed on the floor, the small room, the metal cabinet instead of a proper dresser’…. After she left the room I stroked the mattress that had no stains, ragged holes or smells, I folded and hung my clothes, I made the clean bed and smoothed the covers with joy, the sense of order brought my first moment of thrilling freedom.
She had never even met me when she agreed to let me move in. Why in the world would she apologize? This new world seemed full of people like Katie. The man at her church who bothered to find me a place to stay didn’t know me either. Because of church people I was not a
run-away, the ones back in my hometown had all helped me wait to leave until I was 18, until I had a job and a place to stay. I could walk out the front door, confident I would not be chased and brought back to the fear and danger that had surrounded me as long as I could remember.
My need to find the bathroom overruled my shyness about leaving the bedroom in only a sleeping shirt. Katie smiled gently as I hurried by. The towel, personal items and sweet smelling soap she had laid out for me spoke her language of kindness in ways that soothed my
anxious heart.
“Good morning! How did you sleep?”.
I lifted my eyes to meet hers, I tried to voice a simple ‘fine, thank you’, but she saw that I could not and graciously filled the silence.
“You probably have a stiff back from just a mattress on that hard floor, we will look for a bedframe tonight if you like. There’s a great thrift store down on the river road. I need to rush
off now, the groceries you brought are on the second shelf in the cupboard and the third shelf in the fridge. Have a great day, I can’t wait to hear about your job this evening. I will bring home a
pizza, gotta run.” With a quick pat on the back she was out the door, relieving me of the need to respond.
As I packed my brown paper lunch bag with my favorite things, a can of mushroom soup, saltine crackers and Orange Crush, all the words I could not find splashed in a cleansing flood from my eyes.
Oh Katie, I did sleep, the sleep of safety, clean sheets, and peaceful quiet, the sleep of freedom, grateful wonder at the goodness of strangers, and new hope, the sleep of new
beginnings. It is a good morning!
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As I said - I loved it.
This touched my heart!
Excellent job with the topic.
Inspiring.
Blessings~
The word limit has blocked you from outlining any details of an abusive past that you have only hinted at, so I would see this entry as a very descriptive second episode of what you might outline in a future "first episode" entry.