Written

 

 

 

It was an afternoons drive away is what I had been told. 

 

‘Wait till the morning and leave just after noon, that way you can stop for lunch at the old diner off the highway. They have the greatest french toast.’

 

Bleh.

 

‘From there on out it’s smooth sailing. A good old fashioned country drive. The mountains to the West look beautiful at that time of day. Stunning really.’

 

I decided to leave that night, once the sun had set, and the air had cooled. The thought of french toast, and the idea of a ‘good old fashioned country drive’ made my stomach turn anyways. I wanted out of there, and fast. The last few days, and the reminder of why I had ended up here in the first place, was enough to never want to see this town again.

 

Plus, the longer I waited, the longer it was until I got to her. 

 

 

—-

 

 

She looked at me with her marvelled eyes, the type of stare a baby gives when it realizes just how big of a world it’s now apart of.

 

‘What’s next for us?’ I ask.

 

‘What’s next for me?’ she replies.

 

And with that, I knew that the long bottom lining of the back of her oversized jacket was the last I would ever see of her.

 

 

—-

 

 

The phone kept ringing and ringing. I knew no one would pick up on the other end, but it was an act of habit to call. Something I hadn’t been able to let go of, almost as though I could feel her fingertips on the receiver, seeing the tears wallowing in her eyes and being caught on her upper lip.

 

As I lowered the phone and walked away, searching for the matches to light my last cigarette, I thought to myself;

 

It never should have come to this. Maybe it never should have begun at all.