Sunset

She listened to the engine cut off with the finality of a toilet flushing.

Now what?

She got out of her car for the first time in six hours. She started walking towards the guardrail on the other side of the empty road. She heard her footsteps get faster and faster and then there it was. The sky. The sunset.

It'll be just the same as it was back home. It's not like I'm on another planet. I can do this.

She stared and stared at the sun setting behind the endless high voltage lines, and realized she was waiting for something to happen. Where was the rest of it? Where were the old run down factory buildings that always seemed to block the best part of the sunset? Where were those billboards for attorneys, CASH for GOLD, and Dunkin Donuts that she was so used to seeing? 

This sunset was pure. She could see it all, fully exposed and natural. better....this would be a better chapter of her life, right?

She climbed back into her car, pushed an empty Doritos bag off the dash, and headed back home like her Mama always said she would.