Saturday 14 August 2010

vapour

she fumbled to turn off the alarm and curled into a tighter ball, wishing the world away for another moment before an effort of will pulled her from her bed. she was getting a lift today and it would be rude to make them wait.
a quiet coffee was followed by a shower and then, attempting to avoid a recurring sock shortage, she hung washing. knowing it would be some time before a break she sat at the table with toast and tried to converse but she hit a wall with one being sullen and the other irritatingly absent. it might have been a good thing, the clock had travelled further than she realised and now she was really up against it.
mr sullen was in the bathroom so she moved flowers from the laundry tub and cleaned her teeth. the flowers pained her, last night's attempt to create a bunch of subtle beauty had eventually just been uninspired, reflecting her tiredness. she mused on the beauty of the lilies and silently thanked them for rescuing her.
a little discombobulated by the rush she kissed the children quickly and hurriedly wrapped a towel around the flowers. a diesel motor outside provided the soundtrack to these last moments at home and she wondered exactly when it had started.
flustered and disorganised, with too many things and not enough hands, she laboured outside more than hurried, to find only silence. diesel vapour hung in the air, longer lasting than goodwill.