Waiting Room
Bleak was his notion of the converted utility room to serve as his home
Waiting for that something to happen
That event
Person
Postal delivery
Even the pizza man
Or woman
Could be…
Anything was better than silence
His windowless room
Phone never ringing
Computer inbox empty
Phone text without even an inquiry
A ‘Just checking in” message
No…
Perhaps fate was playing its hand coyly with him
But he had experienced the waiting room for a long time
And, oh, how he stared at the keyhole with anticipation
That small opening to the light from the hall
If only a human shadow would step forward and block it.
A short flash fiction look at the epidemic of aloneness in this country, both urban and rural, that some accept and embrace, while others deem it living in solitary confinement. Too few call the hotline for assistance and thus, their lives remain silently desperate.
Once I had absorbed the options I began to wonder; Is it a waiting room to be trapped inside... or are we finally 'outside' the door of the rat-race, our minds free to imagine and create inhindered.
In which case; were we so heavily dependent on that societal merry-go-round, that we find it hard to function without all of its limitations and expectations as guidelines.
It occurs to me that this is a good time to explore the more spiritual aspects of life, in which the events that pass by are signs of the lessons learned.
After all; what is life, if not a cycle of learning and experiencing the many layers of existence.
Ron