Horizons(part 4)

It’s strange how the memory of some people can linger in another’s mind, like the soft whisper of the morning mist as she sings to the approaching dawn. Gentle as a newborn’s sleeping breath, the recollections of that person grow in one’s mind until they occupy their thoughts constantly. Michelle was in such state. She found herself replaying the meeting of Lee over and over, at a loss to explain to herself why. She had barely spoken at all to him while he and his brother changed the tire on aunt Betty’s car. She inwardly scolded herself for having been so shy and reserved, but he had taken her by surprise. She had been blindsided by his appearance out of nowhere and his intervention in the scary situation with the bullies. Having a man stand up and fight for her instead of against her was foreign ground. Michelle detested violence, but she had seen enough of the world to know that sometimes others forced you to fight for your survival. It was nice to be on the winning side for a change.

A smile danced across her face as she recalled how Lee had apologized several times to Betty, Blanche, and herself for the incident. He truly seemed embarrassed about the whole thing. His demeanor reflected an unconquerable spirit cloaked in a robe of humbleness. Maybe that’s what triggered her daydreaming of him. She couldn’t exactly tell. All she knew was that she thought about him a lot and she didn’t want to. She felt foolish. Years of training in the boot camps of abusive love had hardened her into a seasoned veteran of romantic failures. This experience gave birth to the negative voices from deep within her that had long since commandeered her self-esteem. Forcing their control on her mind, she had over the years succumbed to their advances. Her self-inflicted skepticism had taken a heavy toll.

The negative voices taunted her. ‘What man would ever be interested in a woman who was carrying the child of another man? What man would want a lasting relationship with someone who had made so many bad choices in her previous involvements?’

She knew the answer. The only type of man she could have was the emotionally empty, disrespectful kind. It had to be so because that is whom she always ended up with. Why fight fate? She was smart enough to realize that Lee was different than any man she had known and she certainly wasn’t his type.

Still, the heart is a stubborn child at times, refusing to believe what the mind deems to be the truth. Michelle wouldn’t admit to herself that a glimmer of hope flickered deep inside that somehow, someday, someone like Lee would make his way into her life. She didn’t dare allow herself to consciously imagine the possibility that somewhere out there was another soul searching for the fulfillment that she had to offer.

But, the glory of life lies in its’ mystery. Sometimes it can be graceful in its’ intervention, sometimes a bit mischievous. There are other times when life stands aside and watches in amusement as those folks with less patience step in to speed up the process.

Betty and Blanche weren’t the type of women to sit by idly waiting for life to get the job done.

They were impatient.

They were determined.

They had a plan.

And peaches were on sale at Wilson’s Grocery downtown…

To be continued…