Reflection by Jessica Roberts

Author:Jessica Roberts [Roberts, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: C429, Kat, Extratorrents
Publisher: S/P
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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On my way out of the office after a long evening of work, I got a lecture from Bob the Boss. “Git some sleep tonight,” he ordered. “I see you up there on yer balcony ’til the wee hours. You need yer sleep.”

I walked out laughing, obediently nodding but disobediently ignoring him.

Chapter 8

Slowly, and with effort, I trudged up the stairs after a long Thursday. I’d fibbed to Nick yesterday about getting a ride from a neighbor. I didn’t know any of them. Besides, a good, long walk once in a while was a treat.

Accordingly, the half hour jaunt to school was a pleasant affair. But the walk home took forever. And I had used up all my energy keeping up with Damian on the jogging track earlier that day—an exhausting but inevitable task.

To make matters worse, the jogging topic was on Damian’s older sister who was diagnosed with cancer two days prior. The conversation wore me out more than reason told me it should have. My brain felt exhausted, as if it were in combat, a duel of wills, my own versus my own, the one wanting to unlock the memories deadbolted in my head, the other warring to keep the memories safely locked in. The battle was draining. And discouraging. And I began to wonder if real life was more dispiriting than hope-filled. Was my life of freedom really worth fighting this hard?

After Track class I bumped into Teacher Jerry who was walking to his office.

“Hello, Heather. Where are you off to?” he asked as our paths crossed.

“Hi, Professor. Just on my way home.”

“A wonderful thought,” he remarked with a twinkly smile. And boy, was he right.

He continued, “Do you pass through the quad?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Splendid. Walk with me.”

I immediately decided what I loved about Teacher Jerry was his ability to make someone feel utterly comfortable while walking in silence.

As we walked, I watched a baby bird descend from a leafy branch and land awkwardly in a mud puddle, considering the parallels between my life and this little bird.

“What are your plans after graduation?” he asked.

I chuckled, knowing my answer would negate any previous regard he had for me. Regretfully I told him, deciding it was pointless to deceive someone so nonjudgmental. “I can’t decide what I’m doing next week, let alone in four years.” And then my thoughts expounded, “If life were just a little bit . . . ”

“Easier?”

I’d said too much. But what was new? “I don’t know. More predictable. Maybe if it just made more sense.”

“How so?” he asked.

Did he have an hour to spare? But I quickly voiced my leading thought. “Why is my car broken down all the time? Why can’t it just stay fixed? And, okay, take my friend’s sister. I just found out she has cancer. Why? What’s the point of someone having to go through that?”

A small pebble went flying off the front of my shoe, and I felt a little silly next to my distinguished, aged Professor. “And why is it so impossible to say and do all the right things all the time?”

“Go on.

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