HEATHER  RATH
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Picture
     
      A Dark and Stormy Night ©   

It was a dark and stormy night.
Isn't that the way all good mystery novels are supposed to begin...?

Only, in this case, it was a dark and stormy day. And I sat huddled by the window like a crazed woman who knew something grim was about to happen.
I could feel a sinis­ter threat in the air. My palms were sweating. So was my brow. My feet were cold. I was gripped with fear.
If I'd been a chain-smoker I would have gone through a pack by now.
One hour passed. Then one hour and five minutes. One hour and fifteen minutes. Gawd! The waiting was unbear­able! Would he never turn up?!
The rain pelted furiously on the win­dow. The weather matched my depres­sed and anxious mood.
In my mind I pic­tured him. He was younger than me. A good man. But inex­perienced in these things.
What would be his reaction if I told him he couldn't do it anymore...that there was too much at stake? His future. My future. Our future.
I got up and poured my seventh cup of coffee. It was bitter. I spit it out. He always said he hated my coffee. Now I know why.      
Dazed, I wandered in front of the mirror and took a good look at myself. The lines of worry were prom­inent today. My eyes looked wary, my hair grayer; my mouth trembled as I thought of the independence I must now relin­quish to him.
I remembered our good times together. How we laughed in the snow! How we held hands until he asked I not do that in public anymore! How I kissed him goodbye over and over again but still he returned. He said it was because I was a good cook...among other things.
I glanced at my watch. Two hours! Would the waiting never cease?! How much more could a tormented woman stand?!
And then…
And then, I heard it!  The car in the driveway!  My heart skipped a beat. My breathing accelerated!
I raced to the window, absolutely ecstatic with relief.  All that driving and still, he made it.  The car wasn’t even dented!
It was a miracle.
Our sixteen-year-old son had just returned home from his first driving lesson.





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