Rain

A dark, puddle-ridden pathway, winding down an October road, I traversed the black night to escape the faraway look glimpsed in the mirror’s reflection…one not erased with the booze of a wedding reception, the champagne toast to a rousing reggae band.
A day of celebration for a childhood friend…an autumnal afternoon and eve, set aside in the history books, for the sake of commitment. An opportunity to reconnect with old friends, teachers, acquaintances; after a long stint ‘away,’ part of another life altogether.
Small talk and talk back and one more glass and a hope to fill the empty gash, bleating like a sick cow across my abdomen, the pain seeping through the dim haze of narcotic.
Wincing the pain, I let my eyelids lightly shut, and upon doing so, a flash of memory reveals the quick tap-tap-tap on the keys of a computer keyboard (while on lunch break at work) which lightning-quick located an answer to my problem. A destination, not as many miles away this time. A solution sought, found, and endured just one day ago.
Opening my eyes, they are hot with tears. I quickly inhale, willing them away stretching my eyes open as to help absorb the extra moisture around the corners. Sniffing, I glance left and right. Take another deep breath, open them a little wider, blink briefly and sniff away the urge to dive into a tidal tumult, the source of which I might never return from. The belly of that beast, one too many riptides away from shore.
Slosh, slosh, slosh, the brown suede and crepe-paper-thin, hand painted cotton accoutrements to my fancy Brazilian slides went; enduring irreversible damage. I was numb to the want to care for the oh-too-expensive splurge.
A chill seeped through the grey black mist, tip-toed down my spine, and rattled me. It was enough to make me consider and then blatantly partake in an awkward high-heeled jog/jaunt the quarter mile to the gravel drive, wooden steps, creaky-hinged screen door and entrance into the remainder of the buzz I was seeking to soak up the bitter au juis of the disastrous finality of the previous day’s decision.