In the Night

8 • Mere Echos

S U N N I

.

I sighed with relief when I found my hotel room to be pitch black. The faint snoring of my husband echoed from the bed, the stench of puke coming loudly from the bathroom. I scrunched my nose and braved myself, opening the door. Vomit was up the walls and on the floor, a tell tale sign that Simon was as drunk as a skunk.

Quickly washing the makeup off my face and putting on my pyjamas I crawled into the large bed, the luxurious silk sheets making my skin sing. Sighing contently, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the drunken oaf sleeping next to me. Hopefully he wouldn't remember the nights actions in the morning.

Hopefully.

..

I woke up alone, the sunshine beaming through the opened curtains. A slight breeze blew into the room, cooling down my hot body after spending hours underneath this thick comforter. I rose slowly, stretching out my body. Looking towards my right, I noticed that Simon wasn't there. I got out of bed and quickly checked the bathroom. I was completely alone.

Glancing around the room my eyes landed on a strip of paper next to the coffee machine. Recognising Simon's messy scrawl, I noted that he would be out all day exploring the mountains with his buddies. A sly smile crept onto my face. A whole day without Simon.

I changed into something appropriate for town and got ready for the day, preparing to explore the city. I left the motel room, a skip in my step, and made my way down towards the busy streets.

There were small markets set up all over the place, and I took my time paying each stall a decent amount of attention. People were selling jewellery, food, clothes, trinkets and everything else you could possibly imagine. Stumbling upon a small stall buried in between two large seafood stalls, I made sure to pay extra attention to. It was run by two small children, both not over the age of six. They both held toothless smiles as they sold odd little keychains and trinkets.

I paused and smiled at the two children. Staring down at the table, my eyes immediately zoned in on a small figurine. It was carved out of a deep, dark cherry wood, the imperfections along the doll suggesting that it had been dropped a fair few times. Staring at the birds lovely carved wings, I felt it, for the first time in a long time.

The desire to be free.

Like a bird. To soar the cerulean sky and not have to worry about anything. Nothing holding me back. I sighed, and placed the small figurine back on the table. Stepping away from the stall, I felt a pang in my chest. I felt sad.

I began moving on, towards a stall that sold many different cheeses, when I heard the faint distant calling of my name. Turning around, my eyes landed on a couple, waving and beaming from the opposite side of the street. I smiled at them, the distance making it hard for me to understand what they were shouting.

Finally, during a break in the traffic, the man and woman bounded across the street, earning a few disapproving honks from ongoing travellers. I beamed at them and leant in for a hug.

"Scotty! Sasha! How are you?" I asked, squeezing them both tightly. Even though we just met the previous night, I had formed a bond with the pair of them. Reluctantly, I felt my eyes canvas the area around the two people, searching for a boy I hardly knew with dark hair and evergreen eyes. I cursed myself for getting a little bit sad once I noticed that he was no where to be seen.

The hugged me back, big wide smiles on their faces. "We're so good! How are you? You got pretty hammered last night." Sasha laughed, punching me gently on the shoulder. I rolled my eyes.