Rumble

A faint rumble rolled though the living room. Belinda looked up from her book and tipped her head. Was that thunder she heard? She glanced out the window at the darkening sky. A moment of silence and she turned back to her story. Once again a rumble sounded and another and another.

She put her book down, stood up and walked to the window. In the dimness of evening she scanned the cloudless sky.

Then she heard, drifting up from the floor vent, electronic voices followed by the sounds of battle. Of course her husband was playing a video game.

Morning Sun

She stirred with a glimmer of consciousness and rolling onto her side rubbed the silky pillowcase with her cheek. Her eyes still closed she listened. Something had changed. A moment of drowsy taking in, of savoring the relaxed state of timelessness half way between asleep and awake she lay still feeling the earliness of the hour.

She opened her eyes and considered the faint glow of morning sun against the window shade wondering what had awakened her. Both dogs were asleep on their rugs. And then she heard it, the soft chirping of the smoke detector indicating a dead battery.

Secure

The wide-open eyes of her six-month-old son met her glance as she looked down through the viewing screen in the canopy of his stroller. He greeted her look with an impish grin peeking around the edges of the pacifier gripped between his teeth before dropping his chin to look out the front. He tipped his head back again. For a moment there was only trees branches and patches of cloudless sky to see.

Once again she glanced down smiling her reassurance.

He dropped his chin and his eyes drifted shut as he relaxed secure in the knowledge she was there.

Rush

Outside of the car the air already shimmered with summer heat. Inside, the cool air of the car’s air-conditioning unit created a blissful haven for the young woman tapping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. Music flowed from the radio providing a brief distraction from the log jam of vehicles crowding the interstate.

At a snail’s pace the pack moved, starting and stopping in an undulating wave reminiscent of the expanding and collapsing of an accordion.

She sighed.

A glance at the digital clock on the dashboard confirmed her suspicions. She was going to be late to the office.

Mother's Love

After a marathon of walking the floor a soft sigh, an exhalation of sweet baby breath, heralded the arrival of peaceful slumber. The quiet of deep night settled around the young mother as she gazed with adoration at the now blissful face.

“It’s a good thing you are so adorable.” She whispered, exhausted visible in her heavy eyelids and slumping shoulders. The gentle rise and fall of the infant’s chest and the warmth of his body in her arms brought a smile to her lips. “Yes, all the sleepless nights are worth the price of having you in my life.”

Leaning On Each Other

He opened the passenger car door and extended his hand. She smiled up at him over the rim of her eyeglasses before reaching out her gloved hand to his. One at a time she swung her legs out of the car setting her orthopedic clad feet onto the pavement.

He waited as she gathered her strength. One hand on the armrest the other safe in his warm hand she left the car and stood up.

Together, leaning on each other, they made their way to the door of the restaurant where they had met sixty years ago to the date.

Getting Away

After several hours of driving the family vehicle made the turn on to the narrow gravel road leading to the lake resort. Tall pine trees lined both sides offering brief glimpses into the forest depths between their trunks.

“Keep an eye out for deer.” Dad said to his daughters in the back seat.

“Where? Where?” Said two small voices as sisters Gabrielle and Kiara strained in their seat belts trying to see out the windows.

In the front seat, mom smiled. A week away from all the electronic noise of computers, cell phones and television was the perfect family vacation.