More than Black & White

30- anyone home?

Kim sat on the bus looking out into the darkness as the tires put miles between her and her home.

Other people snored lightly or listened to music or talked quietly. She stared out the glass at the darkened streets blur past.

It had been nearly twenty four hours since she had left home with conviction on a whim, now she sat double guessing her decision. She could turn back at any time but she let the bus take her further and further away.

She barely knew where she was going and if she let her mind focus on that her heart would probably stop, but she didn't she had a pice of paper with the address on it, scribbled in haste, that was the only thing directing her.

She closed her eyes with her bag in her arms cuddled to her chest.

*

The trip had been made up of long legs between cities. Highways and rest stops. Overpriced dinners and strangers. Kim didn't speak to anyone, she barely ate and slept horribly.

She paid the fee at a rest stop to access the internet and sent her mom a message that she was safe and not to worry. She would be home after she was done.

She sat on bus after bus. Some had smells and others had warn seats. No two were the same and the frequency of the stops never allowed her to completely settle.

The final stop took Kim to a beautiful small town on the coast. Brightly coloured homes lined the streets. Fresh ocean air filled her nose and the bright summer sky expanded its blue blanket as far as her eyes could see.

Kim felt numb, under normal circumstances she would be in awe of the charm of the village. But she walked stiffly towards the address on her scrap of paper, with out taking in the sights.

She had a goal. She had a need and only one thing could fulfill it.

She was exhausted from the two day trip. Her body ached and her mind wasn't clear. She wasn't sure if she was making the right decision but she had to know. She had to see.

Her dreams had told her what she thought and what she suspected, but she needed a dose of reality to alleviate her mind. What she thought and believed couldn't be true, it just couldn't.

Kim walked for hours, her feet screamed and her mind swirled with overtired ramblings and doubts.

She managed to find it. The address on her note. The simple words and numbers took her to a very real place. A house.

The house was large, with a welcoming front porch. Lace curtains flowed in the open windows. A rainbow of flowers decorated the front yard and the lawn was lush and green. Low hedges surrounded the house in a perfect edge. Kids toys sat waiting for use, a stroller, a bicycle, a tricycle, a sandbox, a slide, a plastic play house, a tire swing hanging from the large tree.

Kim looked at it all objectively. She pictured the family playing happily in the perfect yard on the perfectly beautiful summer day. She could imagine the peels of laughter that would echo across the yard and the joyous squeals of the children as they chased each other around.

Kim imagined the parents sitting on the porch drinking Iced tea or cutting the tops off freezies to cool off in the heat of the sun.

She pictured picnics and barbecues, friends and neighbours, maybe even a happy white fluffy dog dancing around learning new tricks for treats.

Kim was detached from the images in her mind. They could be anyone, the family. Their peaceful and jovial yard could play host to any number of wonderful families.

But it didn't.

It belonged to her family. Her own father played in that yard. He barbecued for his neighbors and taught her little siblings how to peddle their bikes.