Prompt: Conversation with my spouse | Word count:1200 | Genre: Drama/Part of a larger mystery
I could barely keep my eyes open on the train but the snow-covered trees outside were so beautiful, the idea of missing them ached – though I wasn’t exactly a stranger to pain lately. My back ached from the failed attempts to sleep on the almost comically uncomfortable airport chairs, but worst of all my heart ached. Well, not my heart , exactly. My emotional pain had manifested physically but it wasn’t the heart where I was feeling it. I felt it worst in my stomach, which was at turns ravenously empty and a churning sea of hurt. ‘Tony would appreciate the beauty of these trees,’ I allowed myself to think , and then because that thought sent my stomach churning, I closed my eyes and succumbed to sleep.
I had taken a taxi from the train station and was now arriving at the inn. As the driver helped me unload my luggage, I soaked in the details of the exterior of the inn. Snow-covered pines surrounded the building. Snowshoes were propped out front of the entrance. Pretty as a postcard. I felt thrilled…and then lonely. Though I battled the thought, it was there again: ‘Tony would love this.’