“Somewhere different, please, anywhere different.” There was plaintiff desperation in her voice.
“Thoughts, ideas?”
“No ideas. But we haven’t left the house in 473 days. I just need to look at something other than these same walls.”
They were in the midst of the 2020 pandemic, vaccines had not been released. Only essential workers were supposed to be reporting to work. Kyle and Lanie had been working from home, living from home, following the rules. Kyle did the grocery shopping masked and gloved and removed his shoes and took a shower when he returned. Lanie didn’t leave the house, except to sit on the front porch, with her morning coffee.
“We can’t really go anywhere you know.” Kyle hoped that didn’t sound as condescending to Lanie, as it did to his own ears.
“What if we go where there’s no people. There’s got to be somewhere where there are no people.”
“Not if everyone has the same idea we have.”
“Please, Kyle. We have to try. I really have to get out of here, see something different. Do something different. I love you, I love this house. But right now, I need different.” Lanie seemed near panic mode.
Kyle worked for an advertising firm. They had a client he’d only met on Zoom, who operated just over the county line in a small town. When the world was not shut down and crazy, Kyle would have gone to meet the new client in person. Get a feel for who they were and the image they wanted to project. Zoom was, unfortunately, still only two dimensional. He Googled his client, pulled up internet maps and started to form a plan.
Saturday morning Kyle awoke early, but Lanie’s half of the bed was cold. He found her in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and doomscrolling on her phone – which he promptly took away.
“You’ve got 37 minutes, to get ready.” He took away her coffee. Lanie stared at him blankly. “Go, now, 36 minutes.” He shooed her out of the kitchen and listened for the plumbing to sing signaling a hot water shower.
He got dressed before she was done showering and braiding her hair. He loved it when she did that, it trapped the flowery scent of her shampoo, and would be long ripples tonight when it was unbound. He checked the route on his phone again.
Lanie reemerged with her hair wet, but dressed and ready to go.
The drove. With the windows down, on nearly empty highways. They got off on a canyon road with beautiful scenery, rocks and grasses, quaking aspen dancing in the winds. They found a tiny market where Kyle bought deli sandwiches, drinks, and chips which they ate in a nearly deserted park. After lunch they returned home by a different route.
Lanie held her hand out of the window testing Bernoulli's principle. She smiled.
— Lkai
“Thoughts, ideas?”
“No ideas. But we haven’t left the house in 473 days. I just need to look at something other than these same walls.”
They were in the midst of the 2020 pandemic, vaccines had not been released. Only essential workers were supposed to be reporting to work. Kyle and Lanie had been working from home, living from home, following the rules. Kyle did the grocery shopping masked and gloved and removed his shoes and took a shower when he returned. Lanie didn’t leave the house, except to sit on the front porch, with her morning coffee.
“We can’t really go anywhere you know.” Kyle hoped that didn’t sound as condescending to Lanie, as it did to his own ears.
“What if we go where there’s no people. There’s got to be somewhere where there are no people.”
“Not if everyone has the same idea we have.”
“Please, Kyle. We have to try. I really have to get out of here, see something different. Do something different. I love you, I love this house. But right now, I need different.” Lanie seemed near panic mode.
Kyle worked for an advertising firm. They had a client he’d only met on Zoom, who operated just over the county line in a small town. When the world was not shut down and crazy, Kyle would have gone to meet the new client in person. Get a feel for who they were and the image they wanted to project. Zoom was, unfortunately, still only two dimensional. He Googled his client, pulled up internet maps and started to form a plan.
Saturday morning Kyle awoke early, but Lanie’s half of the bed was cold. He found her in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and doomscrolling on her phone – which he promptly took away.
“You’ve got 37 minutes, to get ready.” He took away her coffee. Lanie stared at him blankly. “Go, now, 36 minutes.” He shooed her out of the kitchen and listened for the plumbing to sing signaling a hot water shower.
He got dressed before she was done showering and braiding her hair. He loved it when she did that, it trapped the flowery scent of her shampoo, and would be long ripples tonight when it was unbound. He checked the route on his phone again.
Lanie reemerged with her hair wet, but dressed and ready to go.
The drove. With the windows down, on nearly empty highways. They got off on a canyon road with beautiful scenery, rocks and grasses, quaking aspen dancing in the winds. They found a tiny market where Kyle bought deli sandwiches, drinks, and chips which they ate in a nearly deserted park. After lunch they returned home by a different route.
Lanie held her hand out of the window testing Bernoulli's principle. She smiled.
— Lkai
Error in first line: Plaintive (not plaintiff)
ReplyDeleteThis is so romantic...sigh....opelikakat
ReplyDeleteGreat job evoking the desperation of the pandemic home bound. Lovely, romatic story.
ReplyDeleteI thought that error in the first line was intentional, and that something LEGAL was a'gonna happen. But no! Only a beautiful drive and day! ---Macoff
ReplyDelete