Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FRESH START (01/05/17)
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TITLE: Solitary | Previous Challenge Entry
By Wendy Godwin
01/12/17 -
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He plopped down in an old wooden chair, took his cap off and let it dangle from his hand as he stretched back into the seat. He had the weekend to rest. Being on the road helped him to forget.
The empty cardboard box he had left beside his couch guaranteed that he couldn’t forget for long. Right now, though, all he wanted was a hot shower. Two hours later, several old baseball trophies were packed as carefully as his shaking hands could manage to arrange them and the box sealed. He wrote on the side of the box: David’s stuff, and threw the marker into the corner.
The phone on the kitchen counter signaled several missed calls. He half-heard a voice mail message from his daughter-in-law. Why couldn’t she just leave him alone? He understood that this was a struggle for her, too. Gina didn’t have any other family near. Neither did he, for that matter, but he didn’t need anyone.
He tried to wash away the invading memories with a six pack. David had been the only child his wife had given him before the disease took her. The older woman next door became somewhat of a surrogate mother for David, she took him to church with her, and with her help they had led a comfortable life. Larry never remarried. Never wanted to.
He remembered the kindness he had seen in Gina’s eyes that night that David brought her home to meet him. Now Larry picked up the wedding picture they had given him. Last year, they found a small house to rent so close that they often walked to visit after dinner. But Larry didn’t have any strawberry ice cream that night.
It was a Friday night, four weeks ago. David had run to the store to satisfy his wife’s particular taste. He would do anything for her. The other driver, they said, was going the wrong way on a one-way street. Gina lost a husband that night, and Larry just felt lost. Now he didn’t want to be found. The memories haunted him that night. He tried harder to drive them away.
In the middle of the fog that was Saturday, he sat on the floor and cried. A quietness of spirit touched him deep inside. Next door, an elderly woman sat in her chair and prayed.
The next morning Gina let herself in the small apartment that her father-in-law had lived in for many years. She set his Sunday paper down and rid the kitchen counter of empty beer cans. It was early still and she had hoped she could talk him into going to church with her. Tears dripped into the sink as she filled the coffee pot with fresh water.
“Dad, are you awake?†She knocked on his bedroom door. “It’s me. I thought you might like some breakfast this morning.â€
She ambled back into the kitchen and pulled the heavy cast iron frying pan out of the oven. A couple eggs were all she found in the fridge but they would have to do. She sliced a ripe tomato she had brought from home and arranged it on bread to make two egg sandwiches.
The smell of the eggs frying was making her feel nauseous, but she was used to it. Her hand pressed into the small of her back and helped relieve some of the pain that had been radiating through her lower back and around to her sides since the night before.
She steadied herself against the counter where she had placed the finished sandwiches and fresh coffee. She heard the bedroom door open and Larry, dressed for church, walked into the kitchen.
“Gina, I know you’ve been wanting me to. . .â€
“Dad†she interrupted him, a look of surprise in her eyes, “can you take me to the hospital? I think my water just broke.â€
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Loved it.
God bless~
My mind works slowly at times, so it took me a couple of times to figure out who was who.
I thought the ending wrapped up the story well.