Escape

Hidden beneath the rubble was a trap door. Where it would lead was anyone’s guess, but one thing was certain she couldn’t stay here. The air had become stale and smelling strongly of sulfur. She could hear off in the distance but coming ever nearer the sound of disaster. The ground shook again, harder this time and she knew that the dragon had made its way through the further corridors and would soon be upon her.
She pushed the chunks of stone from the ceiling and walls off the door. She tried to pull it up, using every bit of her strength. But it was stuck or locked from the other side. She stomped and kicked at it, the tears beginning to roll down her face in frustration. She laid her head down on the cool stone floor and began to weep in despair.
There came again the sound of the dragon, closer now. She looked up. She could not stay here. The only other way of escape was back into the corridors but that was not an option. She began to look in desperation around the room, looking for something, anything she could use to pry the door open.
As she turned around she saw him. She knew she shouldn’t even look at him. The gnome had lead her down so many paths before that had left her in danger. He put his finger to his lips. He pointed to the other wall and as she turned she saw a door that she was certain had not been there before. When she turned back to question him, he had disappeared.
She ran to the door and pulled on the handle, it began to open easily, too easily she thought, slamming it closed. No, the trapdoor was the way out and she had to find something to open it with. As she began to search through the rubble she came across a long piece of metal. She ran back to the trapdoor and jammed the metal along the edge of the door. Apply all her weight against it, she felt it give and then she was on the floor. A little sorer perhaps but the door had come open.
The ground had begun to shudder and she knew the dragon was running now. She looked down into the space where the trapdoor had been. It was pitch black, nothing was visible and for a moment she paused but there was no time to waste, she could hear a sound coming from just beyond the door and she knew that if it wasn’t the dragon it was certainly danger. She eased herself down into the hole, nothing to hold onto, nothing to support her weight. She knew there was no other option. She reached up and grabbed the trapdoor, slamming it closed behind her and then she was falling, falling deep into the darkness. Hoping, praying that this was the right way to go.

Chase Your Dreams Again

Get up!
Can’t you hear it?
Far off in the distance, yet near to your heart
Rise up and rush to the mountain where the river flows!
The winter rains have begun but the sun still shines on the mountain.
Hurry!
He’s kept the light burning in the window,
Night after night
Hoping for your return
He keeps walking to the edge of the valley calling you home.
Come back to the place of endless possibilities.
Choose to come back!
There is a place for you here.
You have been sorely missed.
Come back to the place your heart has yearned for
Even in your wanderings,
Though there was pleasure in that far away place.
Your dreams are here.
What you were made for is here,
Go beyond the fence,
Past the forest,
Beyond the desert place
There are endless possibilities of what can be
Today and yes even for someday.
Arise and return.

The Silence

She lays there, pretending to sleep, facing the wall. He gets up and moves quietly from the room. Closing her eyes she imagines herself somewhere else but it only lasts a moment. He’s back and opening and closing drawers. She hears him as he’s brushing his teeth. How did it get like this?
She gets up and makes coffee. He comes in and turns on the TV and watches the news as he puts on his shoes. She wipes the counter, takes the bag out of the trash can, leans it up against the wall in the hall. He lets the dog out, watches a bit more TV, and lets the dog in. How did it get like this?
He walks over and puts some trash in the bag, picks up his wallet and his papers, puts his pen in his pocket. She pours the coffee, goes to the refrigerator and gets the cream, adds some sugar. He walks over and gives her a quick kiss, murmurs goodbye, walks past the trash and out the front door. How did it get like this?
The spaces, the long empty spaces, that have taken over her life, their lives. No laughter, no sharing, no fun, any words are angry words, sullen words, and heavy sighs. How, how, how did it get like this?

The Hurricane

The sky grew dark with the approaching storm and the wind whistled through the windows, the sound eerie and mournful. They had told her to leave. The weather that was headed her way would certainly destroy the little house. The creek that ran along the back of the property had already begun to rise as night began to fall. Her neighbors had stopped as they headed for higher ground. Every one of them, asking, pleading really with her to come with them. But they had left alone.
She watched the sky darken, as she fixed herself a cup of tea. She wasn’t frightened, although others thought she should be. The cat came in winding his way around her ankles. She took her cup over to the chair in the living room and turned on the television. Fifteen minutes later the lights went out. She reached over to the end table and turned on the flash light.
She shuffled her way back into the kitchen and washed the cup; drying it and putting it back up into the cupboard. She brought the kitchen lighter into the bedroom and lit the candles on her nightstand. She smiled softly as the candlelight flickered in the picture of a young soldier taken 52 years ago.
“Oh Henry, I’ve missed you so much these past two months. I can’t wait to see you again, my darling.” She finished getting ready for bed. The room was filled with the scent of the tea rose lotion he had bought her for her birthday last year, and every year before it for so long. She sat at the end of the bed and undid her braid, her long silver hair falling well past her waist. As she began her 100 strokes she could hear the rain banging angrily against the tin roof, pounding against it in waves.
She looked over at his pillow while she brushed her hair. Stopping for a moment, she softly reached for it, closed her eyes and sighed. Two months she had slept alone, after 47 years. She went back to brushing her hair, the cat purring at her feet.
Finished she placed the brush down on the bedside table. She blew out the candle and lay down in her bed. One more night alone and then she would see her Henry again.
As the rain continued to batter the little house, the wind knocking down trees, and the water rising all around, she slept peacefully until he came for her. She felt him before she saw him. The shadow becoming clearer and his little impish grin shining down on her.
“Come along Lucille its time to go.” Then he bent down and kissed her. He took her hand and they wandered off to a place where they could be together again, the cat coming a little ways behind them.

fall

Autumn is near. I can sense it. Not quite but almost, though the days are still sunny and hot, its there. I am anticipating the morning that I will awaken to find the sharp crisp something in the air telling me that fall has arrived. There will be the scent of something almost magical that brings to mind high school football games, long nights in front of a bonfire and strolling through the fallen leaves hearing them crackle beneath my feet.
The trees will be ablaze with reds, yellows and oranges, of every shade and they will float gently down, dancing in the breeze, to land amidst their brothers making a patchwork carpet on the lawn. The ground will be covered with acorns and walnuts, the birds can be heard fighting over them in the backyard. The water in the streams will become cold and fresh and sparkle in the late afternoon sunlight .
Amidst it all are the memories of long ago romances, hands held, kisses under the trees and the promises of a future full of all things wonderful.
Soon it will all fade to winter, cold rains, bitter winds and greys, blacks and whites all around but for now there is hope and promise that the heart remembers and longs for once again.