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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Escape (01/02/06)
Ah, the dawning of a new day. “Oh Lord”, she whispered in a prayerful plea, “please let this day be different from all the others”. Who was she kidding? Of course it wouldn’t be any different; it would be the same old drudgery that it always was. First off there would be a mess in the kitchen and the dining room courtesy of her youngest daughter. She glanced in the kitchen, yep, just as she predicted. The box of cereal left open on the counter, the spilled milk dripping from the counter onto her freshly scrubbed floor. No surprises there, now how about the dining room? A forlorn bowl of soggy flakes greeted her entry. Wait, it wasn’t exactly forlorn, it had a half-eaten banana for company.

As she began the daily cleanup her 17 year old daughter came clomping down the stairs. “Bye Mom”! She paused in her duties, “Wait just a minute young lady”. There it was - that exasperated teenage sigh. “Now what”? Her second born paused briefly in the doorway of the dining room, textbooks resting on her hip and cars keys jangling impatiently in her hand. “Will you be home after school”? Again that exasperated sigh that she had come to loathe. “No, I’m going to Laura’s house and then we’re meeting Sean at the movie theater after work. Remember I told you about it yesterday”? Befuddled, she felt befuddled again. Why couldn’t she remember things anymore? Had her mind become so bogged down with Nothingness that she was unable to recall simple conversations? “Now that you mentioned it, of course I remember”. Her daughter gave her a strange look. “Are you feeling ok Mom”? Fear engulfed her, was her teenager questioning her sanity? She smiled, “Of course I feel ok. Why wouldn’t I”? A shrug, “I don’t know. I guess if I were trapped like you I’d be going off the deep end too”. Before she could think of a reply her daughter glanced at the clock then bolted for the back door. Within minutes she heard the ancient Chrysler LeBaron rumble to life and head down the road towards the high school.

She was stunned by her daughter’s words. Trapped, was that how others perceived her, as being trapped in a meaningless existence? Come to think of it, that’s exactly how she felt. She was trapped in a humdrum existence performing endless chores that no one in the family even acknowledged, much less appreciated. “They were right, motherhood is the most thankless job in the world” she muttered as she surveyed her chaotic kingdom through tears of self-pity.

Images began to flash before her eyes; she saw herself as a charming, carefree twenty-something adult with a neat and spotless apartment. She longed for a time machine so she could escape this unrewarding life and go back to her happier unattached days of yesteryear. A niggling thought interrupted her reverie. Are you sure you want to relive those days of singlehood? “Of course I do”! The words shattered the morning stillness. More images, only these weren’t rose colored. She caught a glimpse of herself lying in bed on a cold winter’s night, wishing she had a husband by her side. Next she saw a woman sitting forlornly on the sidelines enviously watching the happy couples playing with their laughing children. Why that’s me, she realized with a start. I was the forgotten one while the rest of the world was pairing up, having weddings, starting families. Back then I longed to escape my loneliness and find a guy who would love and cherish me.

Then it hit her like a bolt of lightening. A new prayer formed on her lips, only this time it was a prayer of thanksgiving. “Dear Lord, you did allow me to escape, but at the time I didn’t realize it”. She looked around her messy but comfortable house. Once again tears fell unbidden from her eyes, only this time they were tears of gratitude. “Thank you Lord for helping me escape from a life of loneliness to a life filled with love”. For this truly was the escape she had dreamed about during those years when she was single and wanting more than an empty apartment and an unfulfilled heart. Ah, the dawning of a new day and the realization of an answered prayer!
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Member Comments
Member
Date
terri tiffany
01/12/06
Great thoughts! You might want to put who is talking in separate paragraphs..easier to read. I also just read in a book that we should avoid common phrases such as 'like a bolt of lightning' as they are so overused...just a thought.I know I have trouble in that area. I will remmber this whenI feel like escaping...how I wanted that same life!
Marilyn Schnepp 
01/14/06
The story is very well written; but if I were reading it in a magazine, the first thing I'd say to myself is: "Serves this mother right for having to clean up after her daughters - she was the one that raised them! Evidently she had allowed them to leave dirty dishes and half eaten bananas around since childhood. But the writing, I thought, was supurb.
Beth Muehlhausen
01/15/06
Good reminder....no matter what the circumstances, our human perspective leaves us looking for escape! But God can remind us of His provisions, right where we are.