The Wait

There isn't much that marks the passage of time for her. One day flows into the next. She's not sure if it's day or night or Monday or Tuesday. She is unaware and she could care less. She waits. She's not sure what she is waiting for. Maybe it's a sign. Maybe it's an acknowledgement. She just waits.

A plain girl. Unassuming. Average. To look at her, you'd never know the passion she has experienced. The love. The joy and heartache. She looks like the local librarian or the postal woman. Everything about her is so plain and simple. Brown hair, brown eyes, average height, average weight. She blends in so well. She could be a ghost. It makes it so much easier for her to wait.

A long time ago, she had a spark about her. An air of anticipation. To be around her, you couldn't help but feel the excitement. She looked the same as she does now but that spark.... Oh how that spark turned her into the most beautiful girl in the room. She was a true vision. When did the spark die? She's not sure. It didn't happen all at once. It went out a little at a time. She didn't notice it. That's how slow it was. Life went from a beautiful series of events to a waiting game.

She waited. Among the rooms of her home, she waited. She ate. She looked out the window. No one called. No one visited. She waited. Alone. She slept. She read. She wasn't aware that the seasons changed. That she grew older. She couldn't tell you if she was happy. She couldn't tell you if she was sad. She just was. And that was enough.

She didn't think about the past. About her love who left her for another. About her children who never were. About her parents long dead. About her dreams gone unfulfilled. She didn't think about the present. About her home gone to disrepair from neglect. About her lack of money or company. She didn't think about the future.... she just waited.

She was a ghost for all that it was worth. Her home, her tomb.

One night, as she waited, she heard a noise. It could have been a branch brushing the side of the house. It could have been a squirrel running along the roof line. But it wasn't. She knew it wasn't. She knew it was what she had been waiting for. She stood up. Brushed her hair back from her face. Smoothed her dress out. She walked to the front door. The spark... that spark that made her so beautiful before? It had returned. Oh she was beautiful. She shown with a bright light from within. She was transformed.

She opened the door. She was not scared. She was not worried... She just knew all of at once what she had been waiting for. She walked outside. She walked outside and into the waiting arms of death.