Day Twelve

Thirty-One, A Novel

Day One
Day Two  
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven

Day Twelve, Friday

Morgan woke up to rain tapping at her window. The street lights were still on, casting a soft glow through her curtains. She got up, and walked over to look out the window. In the east, a fine line of blue-gray rested on the horizon. Across the wet street, the lights reflected, created lines of shining brightness on the dark asphalt. Rain. She loved the rain. The cool wetness, the smell of clean, the dust washed away from everything, the plants bright green and shiny. She slipped on her robe and went to the kitchen to start the coffee. In the living room, she opened a window a little, then returned with her coffee cup to sit and listen to the rain, drip, dripping off the eaves.

At eight-thirty, the doorbell woke her up. Her neck was stiff from sleeping propped up on the couch pillows, her back not wanting to bend straight as she tried to stand up. Who could be knocking at the door? She checked out the little window, prepared not to answer it if it was someone she didn’t know.

Her neighbor, Nancy stood at the door. Morgan snugged her robe tightly around her, and opened the door.

“Nancy, come in. You are soaked.”

“Thank you. Oh, did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”

“Well, sort of.  I was awake earlier, but fell back asleep on the couch. No problem. Would you like some coffee?”

“Yes, please. Thank you.”

Morgan started a fresh pot of coffee, and excused herself to scoot and dress, quickly. When she returned, Nancy sat, staring out the window, not even noticing.

“Nancy, are you alright?”

She began crying. “No, I’m sorry. I was trying not to cry.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry. It is a crying kind of day.” Morgan handed her a box of tissues.

Nancy took a deep breath, to regain control. “John, my husband called. He has been wounded, and is being transferred to Germany. He wants us to come stay with him, be there with him, on the base, in Germany.”

“Oh, Nancy, I am sorry. Is he hurt badly?”

“I’m afraid I’m not really sure. I kind of fell apart. For his sake, for the kids – we just moved in here, they just started school, it is all too much.” She struggled to get control of her voice. “We have moved five times in the last three years. I thought, I hoped, this house would last us a little while.” The tears flowed again.

“Well, what can I do to help? How soon would you be going? Or, are you going to go?” Morgan added as an afterthought.

“I think I need to call the family liason, see what information I can get. I can’t make a decision right now. It’s too much.”

Morgan waited, giving her time to sort out her thoughts.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Nancy.

“Are the kids in school today?”

“Yes, I dropped them off at eight.  I was supposed to be at work at nine, but I just couldn’t do it. I called in sick.”

“Let’s go do something, together. Where would you like to go? Not a great day to do much outside. What else could we do?”

“The mall? We could walk around inside, window shop, wander.”

“Good idea. And I will treat you to lunch somewhere quiet and pleasant. Tonight, I will bring pizza for your dinner – or you could come and eat here, if the kids would like that more. How does that sound?”

“You have no idea how much I would love that. I, I didn’t want to be alone. Silly, it’s not like he won’t be okay. I think. Thank you.”



Have you checked out the other links for the 31 Day series at The Nester? It is quite a party over there.