The Forever Bridge by T. Greenwood

Author:T. Greenwood [Greenwood, T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-02-23T14:00:00+00:00

Sylvie hears the truck pull up and peers through the shade. It’s Gloria. The passenger door of the truck swings open, and Ruby gets out. And for a moment, she fears that something has happened. Why else would Gloria be bringing Ruby home? But there is Ruby, and she is fine. She is safe. Gloria goes to the back of the truck, lowers the tailgate, and unloads Ruby’s bicycle. Then she starts unloading bags of something, carrying them to the side of the house.

Ruby opens the front door without knocking. She simply slips her key into the lock and turns the knob. It always stuns Sylvie how simple entry can be.

“What is she doing?” Sylvie asks. “What’s in the bags?”

“It’s sand.”

“Oh,” Sylvie says, remembering the supplies sent by the grocery store, and peers out the window at the bright blue sky.

Gloria comes to the doorway again and stands at the threshold, as though uncertain if she should go any farther. “Hi Syl,” she says.

Sylvie pauses and then reaches for her hand. “Come in,” she says and forces herself to smile. “I’ll make some tea.”

She is aware of how ridiculous this is: her best friend, walking across the kitchen floor as though it is littered with glass. Gloria, who used to come into this kitchen and help herself. Who used to throw open the cupboards and refrigerator doors, who used to pluck cartons of ice cream from the freezer and eat straight from the container. Gloria who helped paint these very walls one Sunday afternoon. Who molded and shaped and fired the dishes that live inside the cupboards. Who has listened to every complaint, every bit of joy that Sylvie had to share at this table. Gloria, who has drunk gallons and gallons of tea in this very spot. And still, she doesn’t belong here anymore.

Sylvie is trying so hard, but it feels like swimming upstream. She is so out of practice. She has forgotten the lovely rhythms and cadences of women’s conversation. Of the pleasant silences. She has forgotten how to share a space, a story, a moment with another person. She feels clumsy and awkward and foolish.

“Ruby says Robert’s down south visiting Larry?” Gloria asks, sitting down tentatively in one of the kitchen chairs, as though she doesn’t trust its legs to hold her. “Is he worried about the hurricane?”

Sylvie nods. “He says they’ve evacuated a lot of houses on the island, but that he and Bunk are going to stick it out. Larry’s dealt with this before. Isabel, I think. That was the last one.”

Gloria fiddles with the sugar bowl that sits in the center of the table. “We’re not supposed to get much here except some wind and a lot of rain. I’m worried though about you being so close to the river.”

Sylvie thinks about the quiet stream that flows behind her house. It’s hardly a river here. It’s barely more than a creek. It is harmless.

“You could come stay with us for the weekend, you know,” Gloria says hopefully.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.