The blade glistened and dripped something in the night wind, obscured partially by the rag Elise hurriedly placed over it. She made her way towards the dark blue sedan under that one solitary light swinging now as if to mark time. Anyone walking by might have noticed the haphazard way this car was parked, diagonally across the faded lines on the crumbling asphalt. The sound of what could only be described as sighing followed as she fumbled around for her keys.

‘Dammit! Where are my keys? I know they’re in here, somewhere.’

Time was running out and she had to hurry. It was a really strange winter this year. The clouds hung low every night, appearing at sunset; filling up the great expanse above almost like rolls of cotton candy set free, to roam at will. Once inside, Elise plopped in the seat grappling with the turn of the events earlier that day.

‘What happened, exactly?’

She had to think.

‘How much of this was pre-destined?’

Elise asked out loud to no one as she started her car. A quick glance in the rear view mirror told her no one was around and she pulled out onto the dark road and drove slowly towards the highway, taking careful attention to avoid the huge rocks or something right up ahead.

Her mother left the family when Elise was very young, almost too young to remember. A mother at home, what would that have been like? Her father was a quiet man who never remarried and never spoke about the break-up. Satisfied he prevailed in court for complete custody of his four children, three boys and a girl, he devoted the rest of his life to their care. His manner was calm and one never saw him get angry. A great combination necessary for raising four young children and young they were, when the divorce happened. He spoke in a deliberate way, with just a hint of an accent revealing his birthplace.

All this, however left an emotional void deep inside Elise that bothered her, even to this day if she were brutally honest. Her mother was almost an enigma and for the most part a dream appearing sporadically throughout her life. Elise remembered when she would cry herself to sleep while laying on her bed, late at night. What was the real reason for my parents divorce, she wondered? Most everyone she knew had mothers and fathers living at home. The ones that didn’t, at least saw them on occasion. The answers to the questions always seemed right out of reach, out of focus, somehow.

02/27/2007

Posted on 02/27/2007
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