Adventure

Written in response to https://fivedotoh.com/2023/01/16/fandangos-flash-fiction-challenge-202/

The first thing she unpacked was her table, littered with her favourite items.

Lamp, headphones, and her trusty laptop. All her other belongings were in boxes, which needed to be opened – but not today. Today, all she wanted to do was snuggle in her bed, turn all the lights out, except for the lamp, and listen to her favourite music.

She always did this, even when she was a little girl, only then it was a CD Walkerman. Trying to explain to her daughter, that’s how they listened to music, and she was in an alien world.

Tonight, her little girl was at university, and she was alone, for the first time since she escaped her marriage. She couldn’t let him belittle Shelly, as he belittled her. Even now, in the dark, without light to guide her, she was scared.

Eighteen years, and she hadn’t seen him since then. She heard, he was married again. She worried for his wife, the rows, their children. No. This was her moment. Single, happy to be so, and content with her life.

She slipped the earphones over her head, singing to Queen, louder than any neighbour would want to hear. The light shone in the window- protection from the dark.

Work, could wait, her laptop could wait.

Sleeping, her headphones gentle on her ears, she smiled – tomorrow was going to be a day full of adventure. Tomorrow she would write her own story, create her own magic and live again.