Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Great Escape: Care

I heard the leaves crunching under their feet as they walked through the backyard. I knew that it was only seconds before they discovered where I was, so I turned around and walked back towards them.

I felt significantly better, but still slightly unsteady. I thought of what to tell them, but came up with nothing. Too late to turn around, and I hoped that it wasn’t obvious that I was not feeling well, not drunk.

“Claudia Joy.” I greeted, looking around the house. “Was that Denise I just heard?”

“Yeah.” In quick strides, Denise appeared beside her as they shared a look. It wasn’t hard to tell what they were thinking either. “We missed you at the meeting.”

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Great Escape: Absence

[Life goes on. It gets so heavy, the wheel breaks the butterfly.]

I thought about what I had confessed this afternoon, and wondered how quickly I could unravel. How quickly I could calm the urge to numb out the anger, with pills that I no longer had.  

As I pushed the wine onto the counter, it sloshed some, but I didn’t stop to clean it up. Instead I walked upstairs, and dug through my purse. When I found the container of tic tacs, I realized that it wouldn’t be as satisfying when I popped a couple into my mouth, but did so anyway and walked into the bathroom.

The Great Escape: Scars

{Look in these eyes; we know each other like our own skin and bones. We know the scars, how they got where they are, in places no else knows.}  

After the confession, I composed myself and began piling everything onto the platter for an easy clean up. My first thought being to wash everything, but I only ended up pushing everything onto the counter and walking back into the living room.  

When I sat down on the couch with a sigh of relief, I felt a bubble of emotion come to the surface. They were no longer tears of sadness, but of relief that somebody else knew my secret.