A Distance Apart

An expected friend.

A distance apart.  I got a $10 in flight coupon for going to a mormon temple during my layover. As a Sunday service was getting out I noticed a woman six pews away  handing out roses to mothers for the holiday. She looked like a retired playboy bunny who'd thrown out her swimsuit in exchange for a long skirt and 20 grandkids. I hoped to get a free flower, too, since all the children were off in another room and I was in prime age for childbearing.  Instead of a rose she gave me a smile that carried the warmth of an evening hearth on a cold day.   I wondered what told her the story of my unfettered womb.

A distance apart. She broke me away from the tour group, inviting me to coffee on the way back to the airport.  She'd be my personal shuttle.  "I don't want any literature, I'm only here for the voucher" I said.  "I'd like to pretend that's all I'm here for today, too."  She said.   "Let's pretend we met somewhere else, I need a religious holiday for the moment.  Since I don't have children for the other sister wives to watch, they won't notice me missing for awhile."  She said. After my quizzicle look she assured me her husband would miss her first, she was his first wife and he loved her.

A distance apart.  We discussed life in general, our thoughts and feelings, and finally global news. She knew the recent events of the war and the economy.  I could see her potential to be a highly educated woman, though she only had a GED.  We discussed the seldomness of youthful dreams coming true, and the inexception of our own lives.  She never got a Master's, I never married.  Could we switch?

A distance apart.  I made the mistake of telling her her options, as I thought they were.  A man to herself, a college degree.  She laughed, blankly, and I said I lived in my mind, not the world around me.   I waited for her to tell me what she thought I should do, but she took a sip of tea instead.  Her husband called. Our time was up.

A distance apart. She was across the car, however silence loomed above the stick shift.   I wondered if it was what I'd said or the impending distance in states we'd soon be.

A distance apart. I'm flying in a plane, now over Nevada.  

Reviews

[Archia]

I love how this has a simple but not uncaring tone to it. Like the person is actually thinking about it, though it will one day pass as just an event. That's how I saw it. And that's what I really liked about it, it gave it depth.

[myowndreams]

I really liked the fact you were looking for answers outside of yourself. I loved that you told a story; I could really visualize what you were saying.

[An Ordinary Woman]

Sometimes, we learn the most from someone least expected...an exchange of words that did both parties a world of good...I enjoyed the randomness of this, the jump in/jump out again beginning and ending. Well done!

[halflives]

This isn't exactly a poem, but it's really well done still.

[Samuel Dickens]

Not being a Mormon or loyal follower of any organized religion, it is difficult for me to understand the subservient role that some women assume. If I had a conversation with her husband, I imagine we’d be “a distance apart” on quite a few issues, also. Culture plays a part, here, too, and while its function can be quite positive, it can also work the other way. From my own experiences, I’ve learned that we all can’t reasonably be anything we want to be, even though that view is often touted. The problem is that we don’t all have the same “life-menu” to choose from, you see.
Overall, a well-written piece, although I am somewhat confused by "She was across the car....."--What car is that?

[SilentSKY]

Interesting....