Shattered Dreams

SHATTER DREAMS

It wasn’t meant to end like this, not like this. We were supposed to be a family, and families stick together no matter what.

Driving home, I let my mind wander back to Jenny and the kids, thinking about happier times and wondering how they were getting along without me. They were probably having dinner now, and Jenny would be trying to feed baby Margaret her peas. She was starting to teeth and we wanted to switch her to solid food. Dinner was usually a messy affair with lots of baby spit involved.

In the middle of the food fight, Clarissa will be regaling Jenny with a longwinded account of her day in playschool. From how she hated Miss Watson for making her sing in front of class, to how annoying Bobby Rodgers was for following her around during playtime. She loves finger painting and wants to study art in school next time.

Damn, why must they grow up so fast? I thought, smiling to myself as I realized just how much I missed them. I wanted to tell Jenny just how sorry I was, that I was ready to do anything if she would just take me back. I wanted to be with my family again. Driving past the road that would take me to the house, I was possessed by a sudden impulse to drive home right now. It has been two months since our big fight, surely she would have calmed down.

What have I got to lose? I’ve already lost everything I care about. And with that crazy notion, I swung the car around and guided the car up the narrow street that would bring me home.