5
A
single yellow leaf dropped onto Melanie’s lap as she sat sipping coffee and
scanning through the virtual pages of her Face book account. The concept of changing seasons to a Canadian
is a simple truth that is as accepted as night and day to everyone else but the
hard evidence of that truth, in the form of a falling leaf still evokes a
certain melancholy. Kind of like a torch
being passed over; the warm forgiving nights of summer for the golden hues of yellows
and oranges and cooler days that is autumn.
From there it is only a matter of time until the long dark nights of
winter accumulate as much as they do in a season as in our own selves as the
years pass.
She looked up and watched the leaves shimmer in the warm
September air and wondered just how she got to this place. It was a change of season for her in a sense
as she looked back down at the picture on the screen. It was a picture of her husband Gary dressed
in a slick black tuxedo, his hand clasped tight around the hand of his new
bride running away from the camera, he was laughing and wearing a smile of long
forgotten youth. She clicked on the
arrow taking her to another picture, this one of a beautiful girl in white
dress, a shower of rice raining down on her.
It was a beautiful wedding, but with one major flaw, it wasn’t her in
the white dress. During a random search
of friends she had simply stumbled through the photo albums of a dozen
strangers and while looking at those pictures, friends of friends, she
innocently came across a set of wedding pictures taken the previous
weekend. Melanie had stumbled across
pictures of her husband getting married to someone else while he was supposed
to be on a business trip. She was lost
in thought when the sound of a car pulling up the driveway snapped her back to
the here and now. Melanie closed the lid
of the laptop and rushed into the house meeting Gary as he slipped through the
patio doors into the kitchen.
“Mother-fucker! When exactly were you going to tell me? Actually what were you going to say, no wait
Fuck it I don’t’ wanna know.
“Mel, it was –“
“Shut up Gary you stupid asshole, just get the fuck out!” A
small cup crashed against the wall just past Gary’s head and rained fragments
of glass down the back of his shirt. A
second one landed remarkably close prompting Gary to charge forward with full
intention of stopping Melanie before she did something he would regret. He only managed one step before a hand-made ceramic
mug landed squarely across the bridge of his nose and a Fourth of July
explosion that dropped him to his knees followed. There was so much blood pouring through his
fingers he wasn’t sure if it was just from his nose or from the flap of skin
that he could feel at the edge of his left hand fingers. Stunned from the pain searing across his face
and how quickly things had unfolded his initial anger faded. He realized pretty quickly that Melanie must
know everything and there really wasn’t much to say. He got up, grabbed a handful of paper towels
and walked to the kitchen sink flipping on the tap and letting the water get
cold. After he cleaned up he casually
picked up a few personal items from the bedroom, a couple CD’s and walked
out. Melanie watched from the living
room window as he placed the small bag next to his suitcase that was still
packed in the car. He glanced up as he
made his way down the side of the car and opened the door, stepped in and in
seconds was driving away.
Melanie was still standing in the same spot, trance like, a
look of shock and hurt embedded in her features when there was a knock at the
door. She was going to ignore it when
there was a tiny click as the latch slide past the strike plate and the door
opened.
“Hello?” came a shy voice.
“I’m so sorry to bother you, my name is Anna and I just moved in next
door, well renting a room actually while I’m in school. This is going to sound horrible and I hate
admitting this but I noticed your husband leaving, and well, I kind of heard a
little of the yelling. I’m sorry I
didn’t mean too, it’s just that with the windows open and all.”
“I’m not sure if this is the best time-“
“No, I know I really just wanted to give you this.” She said pulling out a card and handing it to
Melanie. “Where I come from there aren’t
many reasons –“ she stopped, “what I
mean to say is that if you need someone to talk to I’m a good listener.”
Melanie looked down at the card, Mystic Angels – psychic
readings by Anna. “Listen, Anna, I
appreciate the compassionate speech, reaching out and all that but I don’t think
this is really me.”
“That’s what most people say, until they try it.”
“Well, let me think about it. In the mean time you wouldn’t happen to have
a card of a good lawyer on you?
“Actually, yes I do.
She is amazing, her name is Abbey Parker. I think she is going through something
similar to you only she doesn’t know it yet.
