As dawn sneaked through the curtains
her eyes scanned a strange room.Strange, yet somehow comforting.
Maybe it was the scent
of the goose down duvet
from her childhood on the bed
that held her snug through the night.
She lay with closed eyes
as her body stretched awake,
when her sleepy and still mind
was assailed by doubts and misgivings.
Of what she left behind,
her home of many years,
of the man with whom she’d shared
late-night giggles and secrets.
Just in time she too remembered
that those nights and whispered words
were a memory and times
from a long, long time ago…
She opened up her eyes,
and a ray of sunlight caught
a locket beside her bed, with the inscription
‘Always follow your dream’.
With that she bounced out of bed
into the day
of discovering new roads,
through new surroundings,
exchanging a few words
with people who were still strangers.
‘Til the late afternoon sun
found her gazing at a place
tucked into a leafy garden corner
alongside an ancient sandstone building.
A little bell tinkled
as she opened up the door,
and with a smile she greeted
a man hunched over a desk,
‘I believe you’re in need of assistance?’
And this became the start,
a new beginning opened up,
in a new place with new faces.
No more old routine,
no more cell phone and call sheets.
No more being in same place
at the same time every day.
No more time spent cooking dinner,
favourite meals that weren’t her own.
No more heeding others moods,
no more two people alone…
