A War On Her World | TWD: D. Dixon

Ch. 5

"I'm sorry gran'ma... I wish I could stay, I really do. But... it just isn't me anymore." Elizabeth once again stood on her grandmother's front verandah with her bags packed, the only difference was that this one was that of a farewell. She thought her new beginning started on the farm, but after two weeks, she came to the conclusion she was no longer a country girl. It took her moving to realise she lived for the city life, for the parties and other social events.

"This place will always hold a special spot in my heart," Elizabeth whispered, risking a glance at her grandmother's eyes. She was surprised to see the kind smile was still on the woman's face and it only brought her further to the brink of tears. Gently holding Elizabeth's face in her hands, her grandmother spoke four meaningful words while placing a short kiss on her forehead.

"I love you, Eliza." Tears gathered at the corners of Elizabeth's eyes as she brought her only family left into a tight hug.

"I love you too."

Pulling away she wiped at her cheeks, saying another goodbye, before grabbing her bags and walking down the driveway to the taxi. Climbing into the car, Elizabeth waved until the farm was out of sight. She looked up to the darkening sky, through the window, watching as the grey clouds rolled in -the warm sun was blocked in the process, bringing on a sort of coolness. It was going to rain soon, but that wasn't a problem as Elizabeth loved the rain.

The taxi took her along the country roads into the city, the bushy trees fading quickly into buildings and infrastructure. From the city, she was taken to the airport once again where she caught a plane to Atlanta city. The woman's decisions, to any outsider, would've been seen as impulsive and abrupt, but Elizabeth had begun her planning from the second week into her stay at the farm. She landed at nine-thirty that night in Atlanta and booked herself into a nearby Motel, it was nothing special as she was short on money, but it gave her a bed to sleep in, a roof to sleep under, and food that she could order.

The next morning, just past dawn, Elizabeth awakened in her plain motel room. Her bed was in the centre of the wall, shared with the door, a small tv sitting across the room directly in front, and another small room to the diagonal right of the bed, containing all the essentials of a bathroom. She got dressed in a white, flower-patterned sundress and sandals, leaving to go looking for apartments and part-time or casual jobs hiring.

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Midday came far sooner than expected and Elizabeth's plans to find an apartment seemed to fail when none of the available options stood out. She knew that she couldn't be picky but all of them felt wrong and it began to look like she was going to have to sleep at the motel again that upcoming night. However, she was not yet ready to quit. From that afternoon, all day Elizabeth looked for a job; left and right she took last-minute applications and interviews, all day she was turned down because of her lack of thought and preparation, but she never quit.

It was getting late, but she had one last interview at a small pharmacy -they were low on staff and desperate. Their employees kept quitting because of their inability to take orders from the snobbish manager, which seemed to be the only reason that Elizabeth was even considered for the position. Sure enough, she didn't find a place to stay, but she was due to work on the 25th of July.

During the nearly two weeks of unemployment, Elizabeth had managed to find an apartment consisting of one bedroom, a bathroom, and a lounge room connected to a small kitchen for $200 a week. The place was small, but that was all the woman needed -she lived alone and didn't need the extra room. Not when she was sure all it would bring is an overwhelming feeling of loneliness.