"It's been a long day", she thought to herself as she trudged up the steps to the front porch, "A damn tired long day and all I want to do right now is just sit in a hot bath and nurse my poor aching body"!
Gracie dragged herself inside her home, tossing her coat and hat on the chair by the door. She stood, looking forlornly around her. A tear sneaked its way out of the corner of her eye and slowly rolled down the side of her face. She quickly wiped at her face. "Stop it, you have no time for this, no time to cry, not now!" She berated herself angrily.
Wearily she reached for the old kettle on the stove, striking a match, she lit the old gas stove and placed the kettle on the burner. "Why in God's name did her dad not get himself a new stove"? She mumbled to herself.
"It's not important now, not anymore", she sighed dejectedly.
Gracie laughed, at least she tried to, but it came out in a strangled sob. She cleared her throat in an effort to pull herself together. Sighing wearily, she walked into her bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom. She turned the tap on to fill the bathtub. Almost mechanically, with no thought to what she was doing, she shook some bath salts and bubble bath mixture into the running water and tested it to make sure it was to her liking. She walked into her bed room, stripping her clothes off. Normally she didn't like baths, but this was one night when she needed to take one.
Sitting on the side of the bed she reached for the photograph of her dad, looking at his smiling face, loving that twinkle that was always in his eyes. What was it he had said to her?....."You're on your own now kid"....
The sound of the kettle's whistle startled her. Quickly she ran into the kitchen turning the knob off. She brewed a cup of tea, strong, and extra creamy, just the way she liked it! Sipping the hot tea she returned to her bedroom and sat the cup beside the bathtub. She lit some candles all around her and flicked the switch on the wall.
With one hand on the wall she stepped into the fragrant tub, slowly immersing her body into the water. Another sigh left her. Leaning her head against the wall, she sat, ignoring the warmth of the water, staring without seeing anything, she felt so alone. Where were her friends, the ones that used to come around and hang out and be with her and do things together? The ones who used to be there when she needed a shoulder to cry on, a little support now and again? The ones whom she thought were her friends, where were they now? Gone...."I guess it was all just pretence", she thought to herself.
"You're on your own now Kid", she heard her dad's voice again....and that was the pin that burst the bubble, opening the floodgate of the tears she was trying so hard not to cry...she bawled....