From Dusk to Dawn

Broken

He waited for her. Standing near his bedroom window Luke Williams gazed longingly at the crowd forming in front the two story house, hoping his light brown eyes would soon rest on his mother’s soft facial features. Why isn’t she here yet he thought to himself. It was nearly ten in the morning and though he was growing restless and impatient, he did not know what else to do. Behind him to his left was his unmade bed. The sheet laid in a mess but the mattress had not been used much in the last two days. His numerous toy cars as well as his fire truck and actions figures occupied the center of the room forsaken just as his school books on his desk to his right. At first he tried to occupy his mind with his everyday activities, but without her, all things seemed trivial.  It had been two days since he had seen her. Two days without hearing her humorous voice, or seeing her eyes sparkle with love for both him and for her life. Two day without being embraced by her.

His olive colored fingers could no longer stay still as he kept on tugging at his carelessly worn suit. He let his gaze lingered on those below. The growing crowd was filled with well-dressed people of all shapes and sizes, all of whom spoke with whispered voices and bowed heads. Once or twice someone would rise their head and meet his stare. Sympathy filled the eyes of some while a superior smirk resided on the faces of others, but all of them shared one thing in common, they all protected a secret he that did not reach him. In the past two days when asked where she was, all would reply with silent and continue on with their routine. No matter how much he tried to understand, he could not comprehend how her absence did not seep through the fabric of their world. For him, it was the only detail in his world. The only thought that consumed his entire being, steeling away any moment of peace from him leaving him paralyzed where he stood. He did not want to move or speak or even think at that point. In that space of time nothing else mattered but her and all he wanted to do was to scream at the top of his lungs for time itself to stop, at least long enough for those around him to notice she was missing and nothing would be right until she came back.

The sun came out in all its warmth as if to greet them and grant kindness, but somehow, to him, the wind carried with it a feeling that ate away at him and told him his worse fear was about to come true. The all-knowing wind passed through his window ruffling his caramel brown hair and flowed from one part of the room to the other, all the while reminding him of how quickly things had changed for him. This was not how the day was supposed to go he thought to himself.  Normally she would welcome him into the kitchen with a warm smile and a soft kiss on his cheeks before serving him breakfast. He would then sit at the marble kitchen counter and watch her rush down her large mug of coffee while she darted from one part of the house to another in an attempt to get everything organize for work. He loved watching her while she went about her day, whether she was packing her things to go to work, correcting her students exam papers or even as she sat quietly with her feet on the stool, lost in the lives of the characters in a novel. The best part of the day however was when he came home. No matter how cruel the outside world had been or how much of a failure he felt like, whenever he came home and let himself fall in her arms, he would forget the day’s tortures and feel himself being renewed by her love for him. Unbeknown to her that unlimited boundless supply love she felt for him is what got him through his toughest of days.

Their last day however, did not go as smoothly as it usually did. Rather than waking up at half seven as he normally did, he overslept and woke up to the upset voice of her shouting at him to wake up. Her usually pleasant and smiling temperament was gone and in its place was the side of her he often dreaded. From the moment he awoke she did nothing but list everything he did wrong, from him going to sleep too late the night before to him not having time for breakfast to her being late for work. The feeling of guilt sank deeper and deeper with each sentence she threw at him but he stayed silent the whole time and though he did not enjoy hearing her raised voice aimed at him it was by far better than the silence which followed in the car.