Day 1: A Resting Story
The rest was unexpected but welcome
This story is my response to the exercise: Your True Story in Twelve Days posted on Substack by David Sewell McCann. Follow this link to read the details for Your True Story Day One: When we Rested.
The Story
The woman sat surrounded by sound and thought she was resting. The chores were done, the food was cooked, the presents were wrapped....and now unwrapped. There was nothing left to do but rest. The sound created a wall, or maybe it was a blanket that wrapped itself around her like a cocoon. The twinkling lights (or were they flashing lights?) were off in the distance and seemed to be coming closer. She heard the soft tones of Christmas music floating through the air and took a deep breath. How wonderful it was to sink into the chair and just rest.
She opened her eyes expecting to see the twinkling tree and crackling fire in the hearth, but instead, she looked up and saw a cracked window in front of her. Then she remembered. She remembered how the car had hit something and spun out. She remembered the blur of oncoming lights and the sound of metal crunching. Or was it crashing?
Soon, the fire engine and ambulance showed up. The paramedics got the woman out of the car. Amazingly, she was not seriously injured, although she was shaken up. Unfortunately, her car was totaled, which meant her cross-country drive to see her sister would not be happening.
When the woman woke up the next day, she lay in bed watching the shadow of the leaves outside her window dance on the bedroom wall. The sun warmed the room, and it felt safe. Her whole body was stiff and sore.
Slowly, she got out of bed and shuffled to the kitchen to make a cup of hot chai tea. Then she shuffled to the living room and plopped herself on the couch before the fire. She felt her body sink into the soft cushions. She sat there gazing into the flames, sipping hot tea. She felt the warmth of the tea run down her throat and radiate through her whole body. She took a deep breath. The smell of satsumas and the Christmas tree filled the air. She would not take her long adventure across the country. Instead, she would spend the week resting, alone, by the fire in her cozy little house.
The Process
This story did not at all turn out how I thought it would. The story started with describing feeling of sitting at a big family Christmas party and then took an unexpected turn.