Our first meeting today and we were all agreeably pleased with how it went. Nine of us turned up with eight short stories to relate between us. All the stories were good and so different but by a wide margin Sue's was voted the best. Next month's story is to include the words "In the headlights".
THE EMPTY ROOM
She stood gazing around the empty room, entranced. This was it; this was what she had been searching for – and it had come to her in this unbelievable way.
She turned to the young man at her side and said, "I’m still finding this difficult to take in. Do you think I could just have a few minutes alone – I won’t be long." He readily agreed and left her as she slowly circled the room, taking in the beautiful wood flooring, the lofty ceiling and its perfect proportions.
She came to rest in front of the tall windows which ran the length of one wall, in the centre of which french doors led to a delightful rooftop garden. She grasped the two handles and turned them, but they failed to open. She felt a sharp stab of disappointment; she must get out onto the terrace. She took a step backwards, thinking to call the young man and demand the key, but as she was about to turn, her gaze fell to the window sill on her left and there lay a key. She snatched it up eagerly and fitted it into the lock, where it slid smoothly, turned, and the doors quietly opened.
Still holding the doors wide, she stepped out and took in the breathtaking view over the rooftops to the country beyond. She felt dizzy with this sense of freedom, light and poised, as if she could effortlessly fly out across the city and go wherever she wished.
The peaceful room, the beauty of the delightful garden and the glorious space beyond were symbolic of this new chapter in her life and she knew she had come home.
She slowly released the doors, letting them swing wider in the breeze, and wandered between neatly kept flowerbeds which lay to either side of the patio. Pots of daffodils and early tulips provided splashes of contrasting colour against the shrubs and a promise that summer was on its way. Elegant metal chairs surrounded a table in the centre of the patio, inviting in their emptiness.
She resisted the pull of those chairs and wandered on, coming to a delightful pool, with colourful fish emerging and disappearing lazily between its sheltering plants.
She reached the balustrade and leaned her elbows on it, cupping her chin in her joined hands with a sigh of sheer content. Had she died and gone to heaven?
She could have rested there indefinitely, basking in the kindly warmth of the spring sunshine and listening to the gentle splash of water from the pool’s fountain, but she had to go.
She trailed her fingers along one chair back in passing, already seeing herself enjoying a cup of coffee or a tall, cool drink with friends – such tantalising thoughts.
She drifted past the daffodils, which seemed to be nodding their approval in the gentle breeze, and once more entered the empty room, closing the doors quietly behind her and turning the key in the lock.
As she faced the room once more, there was a sudden thunderous knocking on the door opposite, rooting her to the spot with shock. She couldn't’t move. The knocking continued, even more urgently, and was joined by an anxious voice which called, "Are you awake? Your taxi will be here soon" – and she opened her eyes to a dreary, wet morning, remembering she had an appointment with the solicitor.
