Short Story: Starting Over Part 1

Photo Credit: galutah

"So what are your future plans?"

Such a simple question, yet somehow it hurt Barbara to hear it.  What was she going to do next?  All these years she had thought she had known what she would do every step of the way. Everything in her life was planned accordingly.  What college she would attend, when she would graduate, what kind of job she would have, and even when she would get married. All was going as planned until now.  Now everything was different and she found herself caught off guard.  She didn't even have a backup plan.  What could she possibly do?

Barbara let out a sigh, her head feeling a little light from the previous weeks ordeal.  She looked up at Emily, her friend of twenty odd something years, someone she had known since ten years old.

"I don't know," Barbara admitted, "I haven't thought that far."

As though feeling her despair, Emily placed her hand over Barbara's and then slightly squeezed it, "Well you better start now.  You can't change anything by ignoring it.  What's happened has happened.  You need to start fresh and move on."

Barbara didn't want to move on.  She wanted to go back, back to when things were normal and perfect. Back to before this had all happened. If only she hadn't been so curious...

"You know what you need?" Emily said, interrupting Barbara's thoughts, "You need a nice cup of hot tea and  lucky for you, I always carry about a special package in my purse for those you-never-know kind of days.  Come on, get up and I'll make you some.  Then we'll go out for a nice walk...it's such a beautiful day!"

Before Barbara could say anything, Emily jumped up from off the sofa and headed into the kitchen.  Barbara didn't want to drink tea or go for a walk.  She just wanted to go to her room and cry because she was still hurting inside and she just wanted to be alone.  But Emily was right, she needed to leave her apartment so that she could free her mind.

                                                     __________

"Do you remember when we used to play at this park as kids, how we would compete to see who could swing the highest?"

Barbara gently glided her hand over the rusted chains that held the swing together.  "Yeah, I remember that, it feels like so long ago."

Emily sat on one of the swings and smiled, "Because it has been!  I remember how we used to make big plans as kids and talk about moving to Florida so we could go tan at the beach every day, pick up hot guys..."

"But somehow we stayed put and we didn't even move that far.  We stayed close to our old memories, " Barbara interrupted, pushing the empty swing next to her.  She could hear the squeaks of the swing with each push, the chain rattling with every touch.

Brushing her right hand through her brown locks of hair, Emily let out a little sigh, "I guess going to the park was a bad idea then."

Barbara looked at Emily, "No, I'm thankful that you asked me to go out.  I think I know what I have to do now.  I don't want to be like this swing, staying in one spot year after year rotting away until someone decides that I'm no longer good enough...I don't want to be replaced."

Barbara stopped the swing then, grabbing it tightly in her hand until it no longer moved.  She knew what she had to do.  She had to go home and finish what she had started.

Short Story: Starting Over Part 2