Under the Mango Tree: 101 Tales (3)

DIVERGENCE

Challenge No.54 - Writing the Stream.

Write a piece using the stream-of-consciousness technique*

-----

Today I turned seventy. I look back at the path not taken. I suppose I did well, but to be honest, it wasn't the plan. Academia? Not by a long shot.

Three children. One at sixteen. One at seventeen. One at eighteen and my path diverged.

All have left home for new careers and families. One on Mars. One on Luna. One on Titan. I'll never see them again. Here I remain. No family. No grands. No partner. Not even a damned dog!

Folks look at me and have no clue. True, I'm a professor at the University. Degrees, Awards and accolades galore. I'm published. If I'm not at the University de Federaçion then I'm on tour.

Alone. All alone.

The sunset today was beautiful. The ledge looked inviting. It was the best place to spot Jupiter with the naked eye. University security didn't have to react in such a manner. I wasn't going to jump.

Or so I told them.

The ledge did look inviting.

Now here I am. Placed on administrative leave pending an assessment. I'm so tired. Raising three children and educating myself so as to give them a better life is soul-sapping.

What I wanted was to join the military. I'd probably be a five-star general by now. Battle-hardened. Ole iron pants they'd call me behind my back. But unprotected sex and three kids changed that trajectory. It's as if I didn't learn the lesson with the first pregnancy. Went on to have two more. Sucker for punishment.

To be honest, that ledge really did look inviting.

© 23 April 2022

* Citing various sources, Wikipedia states: Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually regarded as a special form of interior monologue and is characterized by associative leaps in thought and lack of some or all punctuation.

===

More stories are hosted at https://www.patreon.com/dawnnbooks