Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Entry #59

Belonging
By Fran Piper


The photograph of the woman peeks from the drawer. She wears a pinstripe business suit and an expensive haircut. Theresa regards her reflection in the mirror; sun-dried hair grown wild and long, cheap sundress, worn flip-flops. Who would recognize her? Of course, that was always the point. But now she can't even remember how it felt to wear a suit.

She had imagined a solitary life in the desert. When she arrived, she found her new home in the middle of a trailer park. Trash floated in the gritty wind; old air conditioners droned and clattered. It was like a foreign country. But he would never think to look for her here, so she stayed.

A knock at the door. Sharona calls "Hi, honey! You home?"

Almost immediately people had begun to stop by with food and curiosity; solitude was impossible.

"Hi, Sharona. You want iced tea?"

The tea jar sits among the dirty dishes. It's not that she's lazy. She's found that around here there's just too much living to do. People watch soap operas and the shopping networks, drink and fight, make up and make love. There's no time for neatness.

"You look tired, sweetie," Sharona says. "How about a movie? Luanne can
babysit."

"What's showing?"

Sharona shrugs. They both know it doesn't matter. The point is to drink
soda and eat popcorn, make eyes at the guys in the next row.

Theresa slams the drawer; the woman disappears.

"OK," she says. "Let's go."

7 comments:

Terri said...

Sounds idyllic - can I go too?
:)

Bernita said...

Especially like shutting the drawer/ the woman disappeared.
Neat.

Joni said...

I like that even though she has left a lot behind, she is optimistic and content.

Beth said...

I like this for its simplicity. I am #26 and I also wrote about moving into a trailer.

Anonymous said...

As if Jimmy Buffett had a sex change and prefered dry land.

Fran Piper said...

Terri, it does sound a little too idyllic, doesn't it? I actually wanted to make Theresa more ambivalent about her identity and choices, but shortage of time, words and skill made things come out differently. Maybe I'll try again sometime.

Thanks, Bernita! I think that was one of the few things that came out how I wanted it to.

Joni, thanks! Even though that wasn't what I originally intended, I'm glad this story worked on some level.

Beth, I read your story and commented on it. I loved it! Fortunately we had rather different takes on the same topic.

Jezzi, LOL!

Anonymous said...

Nicely done, taking us to the trailer park. I like the day in the life feel.

High marks for pacing.