A mini bio? Short story challenge

Posted on | August 26, 2011 | No Comments

The wind whipped through Sandra’s hair as she stood on the balcony of her apartment. She was staring out at the sunset as yet another long day passed by. This was normally the time she would take a deep breath and just release all the tension in her body, but the strong winds flowing around her were making her tension wrap more tightly around her.

Today had been one miserable day. Her boss had yelled at her for a mistake in handling a client’s call and the delivery people had brought the wrong sandwich, she had ordered a veggie wrap and they had brought a turkey club. She was a vegetarian, she absolutely hated meat. By the time she had pulled off the turkey and bacon, all that was left was a few pieces of lettuce and tomato with a small square of yellow cheese. It wasn’t the cucumbers and spouts, with spicy vinaigrette that she was craving. But what could she say, she was starving and the lunch place was already in the process of closing when she had placed the last order of the day.

However, what really capped her day was the traffic jam that happened on the way home. Thirty minutes in humid weather with a broken A/C on her rattle-trap of a car. Sandra was saving for a new one, well newer anyway and in just a few months she’d have everything she’d need to buy one outright. She hated having loans, and credit cards were bad enough as it was.

By the time she had dragged her sweaty and wilting self into her apartment, it was almost 7:30. She took a quick shower, changed into some sweats and fixed a bowl of ramen — yes, she was still saving for that car and by-passed the television to head straight for fresh air.

As she watched the sun drop, she noticed to the right of her the darkened clouds. With the wind that had picked up, she just knew a storm front was coming in. Maybe the rain would help wash away the cobwebs and dust that had accumulated along her balcony railing, she thought to herself. Sandra hated cleaning and the balcony was just the least of her worries in that area. Kitchen, bathroom and living room where her only top priorities.

Sandra sighed heavily. Her life was in a rut — she knew it, her parents knew it and her on again/off again boyfriend knew it. For the life of her though, she couldn’t think of anything to  shake the dirt off the roots of her life and plant them somewhere else. She didn’t want to start over somewhere new, because everyone she was close to lived within a thirty mile radius of her apartment.

Sandra stretched her arms and shoulders and stood on her tip toes to relieve some of the tension, then stepped back into her home and away from the approaching storm. The fading light drifted in and reached a few corners here and there and Sandra realized that she hadn’t even bothered to turn on any lights when she had arrived home.  Her apartment, the storm, the day as a whole just seemed to reflect what her life had become. Dark, troublesome and stressful.

She sank down onto her couch and picked up a piece of paper and a pen from the coffee table and then reached up the floor lamp to turn it on, spot lighting her in a soft glow. She wrote down a list of things she felt where within her means to help make some small changes. Vacation, new job, new boyfriend. She shook her head at those, perhaps she just needed a hobby or a new pursuit. She thought about all the things she’d had some interest in over the years… photography (doable), writing (too difficult and time consuming), foreign language (what would be the point?), and finally she wrote down bowling. She had loved bowling when she was growing up and her parents had taken her to parties for her school friends.  Maybe she could join a league. It would definitely get her out of the apartment and who knew, she might even make a few friends while she was at it.

Just the thought of doing something different, but not too costly eased some of the worry inside of her. She wasn’t anti-social by any stretch, but this would definitely broaden her social skills a bit. She smiled and relaxed back into her couch. Maybe now she could enjoy some mindless entertainment. She reached for the remote and aimed it at the television.

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