A Cage Left Open

Car Ride

The car reeked of stale coffee and cigarette smoke, assaulting Nora's sensitive nose. She had only just woken, thanks to the throbbing in her neck- she must've slept on it wrong. Then again, there is no real right way to sleep in a car, she supposed. Her already wretched morning breath was made worse by a serious case of cotton mouth; she gagged. Groggily, the girl reached up to wipe the sleep from her eyes before continuing into a sorry excuse for a stretch- it was all she could manage in the cramped interior of the little blue Honda.

"Nice to see you've decided to join me here in the land of the living," the driver of the car spoke. "How was your nap?"

Nora stole a quick glance at the dashboard clock. 11:08. Damn, he must have driven all day. Ignoring his quip, she scolded him. "Didn't we agree to switch off at three, Adrian? Judging by the way it smells in here, you must've downed a few pots worth of coffee, but you aren't Hercules. You can't go on forever."

She sounds just like a mother reprimanding her child. Adrian felt a pang of guilt resonate within him, making his stomach tighten. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, tightening his knuckles around the steering wheel.

Nora couldn't help but notice that Adrian did look rough. His unkempt, sand-colored curls sat tousled on his head, as though his nearly-skeletal fingers had been yanked through them a few times; a handful of loose ringlets stuck straight up. Perched forward in the seat, it looked as though his lanky frame was trying to encompass the steering wheel. Even in the dull glow of the dash lights, Nora could make out the puffy, plum-colored bags beneath his eyes. He must be exhausted. We did leave before sunrise, after all.

Her eyes strained to follow his lips as they spoke a mile a minute- he had been babbling on about how he wanted to cover as much ground as possible in the shortest time he could manage. If only your car moved as fast as your mouth. The corners of Nora's chapped lips upturned into a barely noticeable smirk, yet it was enough to catch Adrian's attention- it was an oddity now, her smile.

"What's so funny?" He groaned, casting a sideways glance at her.

Nora didn't reply. Instead, she gnawed on her lower lip, biting back her smile, and offered the boy only a slight shrug before focusing her attention back on the dashboard.

"Nora, seriously," Adrian whined, feigning hurt.

She met his eyes. The couple broke into a fit of laughter; it was pure and innocent, and all the things that love should be. Nora couldn't remember the last time they had laughed like this. Her gaze drifted to the desert flying by them, everything a blur of browns and beige and the occasional hint of green.

Before the baby. Nora's stomach lurched. We haven't laughed since the baby.

The sound of the door slamming echoed through the tiny apartment.

"Nora?" Adrian was finally home from work.

"In here!" Nora called from the back of the apartment.

Shaking the snow from his hair, Adrian tugged his jacket off and tossed it on the back of the couch. What on Earth is she doing in the office? As he walked, he cupped his hands, blowing warm air to thaw his frozen fingers. He pushed the door open, wincing as it creaked; Nora stood with her back to him.

"Nora, love?" He was nervous- she never went in the office. "Is something wrong?"

"Pink," she paused, throwing him a grin over her shoulder, "or blue?"

Bewildered, Adrian stared at her. "Um, what are you talking about?"

She rolled her eyes in feigned annoyance. "Do you think the office would look better painted pink, or blue?"