Theresa Lewis

After thirty-two years of marriage, I found myself alone again. For the first year, I stayed with my sister. After that, I had to learn to make it on my own. My greatest fear in life was being alone, yet, the very thing I dreaded most, was now staring me in the face.

 

Finding affordable housing was difficult, but I did manage to find a basement apartment in a private home. When I came to see the place, it was clean and freshly painted. It was three hundred and seventy-three square feet of space… just perfect for a single person, such as I was.

 

The apartment was bright and had large windows that let in the morning sun. I had all my possessions stored in different places. I had far too many boxes and bins to fit into this tiny apartment. I knew that at some point, I would have to purge a lot of my old treasures. Luckily for me, my apartment had a storage area. I put my boxes and bins of trinkets in storage with the intention of going through it all after I was settled. I haven’t done it yet, but I will do it… some day.

 

My apartment is connected to my landlord’s side of the basement through a closet doorway. He very kindly offered me to run into his side if ever there was an emergency. That put my mind at ease to some degree, especially since memories of my first time in an apartment alone came flooding back to me.

 

For my first time alone, I was much younger and much more agile. Now, in my senior years, I know I am a bit stiff and slower than I used to be. I hate to admit it, but I am also fearful of someone breaking into my apartment when I am home.

 

Late one night around two in the morning I was watching television. I heard and enormous crash in my shed just outside my door. First, I absolutely froze on the spot. I knew I had to investigate, so I approached the shed cautiously. The door to my apartment has a frosted glass that is almost half the size of the door that opens outwards to the shed. My heart was racing.

 

Silently, I sneaked up to the window and tried to peer through the frosted glass. I could barely make out something blue that seemed to be crouched on the floor close to the door. It wasn’t moving, but my mind instantly created a scenario. I had no doubt that a man in a blue jacket was crouched on the floor next to the door. I was ready to teach him a lesson he would never forget.

 

I drew in a deep breath and held it. I slowly turned the door handle. Once the latch was disengaged, I figured if I acted fast, I could disable the intruder. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I summoned up the power of a gold medal athlete.

 

My intention was to bash the intruder with the door then leap out into the shed and beat the snot out of him. I quickly drew in another deep breath and slammed the door as hard as humanly possible into the blue mass behind it.

 

Oh, my God! It wasn’t an intruder. It was a blue bag of recyclable garbage that had toppled off a shelf. The bag exploded upon impact sending the contents all over the inside of the shed. What a mess! Now, at that late hour I had a huge mess to clean up. I chuckled to myself. My heart was still racing and I was shaking from the adrenalin rush as I cleaned up the mess. It took me hours to calm down so I could sleep that night.

 

Now, I am used to living alone and quite honestly, I love it.

 

THE END