As we all make our way through this awful, dreary, lonely, scary time, it is nice to feel some semblance of normalcy. We do just that, when we join our family, friends and colleagues, in virtual communities, such as Friday Fictioneers. Stay safe and stay well, and do your best, to see beyond this time of trouble and inconvenience, to what lies ahead.
Thanks for the prompt and for stopping by to read.
Marta’s car started. She sighed. Long day.
The hospital parking garage’s ceiling crowded down, intent upon scratching her roof. Outside, wet lacquered the rolling pavement, under glowering skies.
Stop. Turn. Merge on. Merge off. All, in a daze.
Soon, she was galloping over the brooding hills, ground giving way, beneath her.
Coasting down the boulevard into town, Marta noticed something. Or rather, an absence. The rain had stopped.
A shaft of light peeked round the cloud curtain, to see if it was safe. Suddenly, it flung a grand arch of rainbow across her path.
Marta choked back a smile.
For a poem celebrating Nature’s resurgence in this time of limited human activity, while celebrating also the changing of the guard, read Quarantine.
You really caught the exhaustion Marta was feeling – she was more than half-asleep it seemed. Well written,
Thanks Penny. Probably not advisable that she be driving in that condition…😊
A bit of hope in these troubled times.
Thanks for stopping by draliman!
I hope the rainbow brightened up her day!
I think so!
All the emotions, beautifully expressed. Well done.
I think that’s what everyone is feeling now. ALL the emotions.
Her exhaustion, both physical and spiritual was palpable.
Thank you, Sandra. One can only imagine-👩⚕️👩🏾⚕️🧑⚕️👨🏻⚕️⛑🌈-and stand in awe of– our health workers and what they are enduring right now.
I think we could all use that rainbow right now, Andrea. Good story.
Thank you msj! If it worked after a flood in which most of humanity perished, perhaps it would lift our sprits a little, too. 😊
🙂
She sounds like that rainbow arrived in the nick of time!
Everyone could use a little cheering up, these days!
True!
I love the image of the sky flinging a rainbow, such an extravagant thing for the sky to do!
I like it when an impulsive urge to nest takes over our celestial bodies. I like to think it means a bundle of joy is on its way!
Dear Andrea,
Atmospheric. I saw her as a health care worker. I felt her weariness. Well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle!
I loved how you built the atmosphere in this story. Lovely last line.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Thank you Susan. It was a bit of a mood piece. I couldn’t let Marta just smile at the end. It didn’t seem respectful to the dead.
At first i imagined Marta driving back from visiting a close relative in the hospital, worn out from the emotion. Then, as I edited, she felt more and more like a health worker in this crisis, worn out physically, as well as from all the emotion. The rainbow scene actually happened to me while heading back from my dad’s bedside one day, and it did indeed give me hope, that tomorrow would be a better day. Thanks CE!
All’s well that ends well?
Time will tell, hmm…
I love the image of the light checking it was safe to return. It will one day soon 🙂
Thanks Iain!
I don’t think she needs to choke back the smile. We will see the rainbow again, and we’ll smile.
Thanks Neil. I expect you’re right about that.