Where's Joy?

Where all her steps lead

The front door shut behind Joy, and she was bounding down the hill. Her slippers whipped the wet grass, her curls wiggled about in the breeze.

For a moment she felt like an angel.

"I can fly!" Joy blurted out. She felt silly. There was no one around to clap for her bravery, and only the air replied. Still, the thought rolled around:

If you stay in the same place too long you'll lose your way.

The hill vanished behind her and the road came in a rush. But she payed no attention to what street or what shop surrounded her. She didn't hear the black birds chirping to themselves, or the neighbours calling "Ah hello, and a good morning to you."

Her breath grew ragged, her legs shook.

Joy stopped. She stopped right in front of a stange and lopsided building. Its glass-stained windows appeared as eyes digging into her heart. Its double doors lay wide open; A horrid mouth waiting to swallow her whole.

But the thought played helplessly in her mind: If you stay in the same place too long, you'll surely lose your way.

And Joy had never been here. To this building, to this part of the old town in fact. She couldn't recognize the battered road beneath her feet. She had never seen fog this thick; surounding the building like a warm hug. The hill were her house stood remained a tiny dot in the distance.

Surely she had gone far enough?

Joy knew(she hoped she knew) here was where she could find herself, regain her lost way. And if not, well, at least she would be lost somewhere else. And so Joy entered.

The doors swung shut just as her foot braved the threshold. For a moment everywhere was dark. Then one by one, along the walls, torches lit themselves. Blue flames erupted like angry waves in a storm.

Joy's whole world lit up, she could see so much more than she ever could in the light of a bulb or the sun. On either side of her were rows and rows of pews. Stiff black benches, erect and attentive. And at the end of it all was a raised dias.

Joy imagined a figure on the dias, heaving themsleves up to their full height. Ready to give words of comfort or condolences.

But of course there was no one there and she knew this was just an ordinary chapel. Joy turned to leave.

Cough.

She whipped her head around. There. Lying sprawled in the front pew.

She took a few steps forward and the figure became more clear.

Stretched out, long legs dripping over the bench, was a man. His hands were folded on his belly and a rather tall top hat covered his face.

Joy watched the rise and fall of the stranger's chest. Spit slunk down the corner of his lips dripping onto his clapsed hands. She counted the number of rings on his fingers. Ten. One on each. His pink suit looked white in the blue flame. Pink was her favorite color.

It was then that Joy smiled.

Her smile turned into giggles. She covered her hands with her mouth, and lowered herself into the opposite pew. If it had been another day, and George still loved her, she would have went on laughing.

The ridiculousness of the situation before her would have tickled her silly. But a few giggles had turn to tiny sobs. The stranger shifted a little in his position. One quick cough, then soft snores followed.

Oh, what she would give to sleep that soundly. Joy let her eyes wander the chapel, her blurred vision took in nothing but quiet.

Silence, more silence.

A thought entered her mind: Wherever there is silence, you can sleep in peace. 

And this chapel was the right type of silent. It wasn't harsh on her ears, and it didnt leave her afraid. It was a house of peace, a holy place.

Joy stretched out her form on the bench, Making sure her feet faced the direction of the stranger. She wrapped her robe tighter around her body and closed her eyes.

If she couldn't sleep at the place she had always been, she would sleep here. Something heavy washed over her, something cool. It wiped her anxious mind, and she allowed it.

If I stay in the same place too long, I'll lose my way. Have I found this new way yet? Will George love me again?   But her mind grew too quiet. She was very much asleep.