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"Life's about changing nothing ever stays the same..." I listened as the song blared out the words on the car radio. Yeah right, maybe in your world, but not in mine. Even the tiniest bit of change would be a welcome intrusion from the day-to-day boredom my life had become.

I steered the car into the turn lane my thoughts spinning around in my brain like a stuck record. Even my thoughts had become routine and predictable. A horn blew two sharp beeps and I glanced into the rear view mirror. The man was holding his hands out in a questioning gesture indicating he had been waiting far too long for me to make my turn. I shot him an apologetic smile then turned onto the road leading to home.

Every Friday it was the same. Somebody would catch me on the way out the door and make the announcement. "Hey Sandy, you doing anything this weekend? We're having a cookout at the lake. You and Berry should come."

I would always smile, nod, and sling the same reply back over my shoulder as I rushed toward the exit pretending I had somewhere important to be. "I'll check with Berry and see what he's got planned."

Of course, I already knew the answer. It was always the same. "My back hurts, my stomach hurts, I'm just too tired, or I don't really feel like socializing, maybe another time."

After twenty of years of marriage the passion, romance, and spontaneity had ebbed away like beach erosion from the lapping of waves beating against the shore day-in and day-out. I wasn't unhappy really, well not totally anyway, just bored. It seemed all my friends and co-workers always had some sort of weekend plans from barbeques, to beach trips, to parties. I felt like an outsider peering in through a window smeared by years of dust, dirt, and grim.

I pulled the car into the drive way, slammed it into park and took a deep breathe. Berry would be home in less than an hour, but tonight would be different. Tonight Berry would get off his lazy butt, get dressed and we'd go to the barbecue or he could go hungry. Tonight I would not cave in to his lame excuses. I slammed the door for added emphasis and scurried into the house. What should I wear I thought, sliding open the patio door. Maybe the green pin stripe blouse, no that would be to dressy for the lake. I slung my purse on the counter and stopped dead in my tracks.

The note, written with a red permanent marker, stood propped up against a vase of yellow artificial sunflowers

I'm giving you what you've been asking for CHANGE & SPONTANEITY. Enjoy your life and don't bother looking for me. I've taken everything I want. The rest is yours. Oh, and I was generous enough to leave you $100 in the bank account.
Berry

The keys slide from my fingers falling to the floor. I clutched the note in my hand gasping for air. This can't be happening, I thought, it's just a dream, any minute I'll wake up. The sound of my mother's voice ricocheted off the walls like an echo from the depths of a deep canyon. "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. "Be careful what you ask for, you..."

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