by Mel Murphy

Created on: December 07, 2011

An apartment in the city.

She watched as her mother’s petite frame stepped through the threshold of the doorway onto the porch. Looking back into the now bare living room she took a deep breath and batted her hands at her face, fighting back tears. So many memories had filled this space.

The moving truck was loaded and the driver waiting. Locking the door behind her she feigned a smile as she turned to her mother. “We’re good to go, ready?”

The mother returned the feigned smile and quietly replied, “Ready.”

The trees of the subdivision faded behind them as they led the moving truck to the highway. Her mother hummed a sweet hymn and patted her own thigh. The car was otherwise quiet.

Ahead the cityscape shown like a mountain in a far away land, the streets busy with all walks of life.  A concrete jungle, a village of unknown faces.

She knew her mother had prepared well for retirement but it hadn’t been enough. She had lost her job and was struggling to get by herself. Guilt swallowed her as she put away dishes and scrubbed the bathroom tiles.  She fluffed the pillows and put fresh flowers in the vase. The mother felt her pain.

“You know, I always wanted an apartment in the city.”

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