Wednesday's Words on a Friday

 

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles. Sadly, Delores has now closed her blog forever due to other problems.

The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along to read it and add a few encouraging words.

This month the words/prompts are supplied by Elephant's Child and can be found here

This week's words/prompts are: 

1. life 

2. lost 

3. told 

4. wild 

5. silence 

and/or: 

1. year 

2. enchanted 

3. twice 

4. impossible 

5. stars

Here is my story:

The year my grand daughter began high school, my son asked me to stay for a weekend so he and his partner could have an anniversary break in a fancy hotel. Of course I said yes, packed a bag and caught a train to the outer suburbs. I lived very close to the city and had forgotten how quiet life could be far away from the hustle and bustle.

Their home was within walking distance of a shopping centre in one direction and fast food places in the other direction, but far enough away from both and from the main road to be able to hear no traffic sounds at all. The back garden had been allowed to grow wild and I worried their tiny dog might become lost out there, but she knew her way around, so I stopped looking for her every time she went out.

Grand daughter N and I had a great time, we told each other things we’d been up to, I learned which girls at school were her friends, who the mean girls were and that her favourite part of school was coming home at the end of the day. I didn’t have to do any cooking, there were frozen meals in the freezer, or a choice of fast food delivery menus on the counter. We decided on pizza and knocked on the older brother’s bedroom door to see if he wanted one too. He had a computer set up in his room and played games, I think I saw him once the entire weekend, when he came out to make sure N was eating and rinsing off her dishes.

The first night was hard, with both kids asleep and complete silence surrounding the neighbourhood, I found it impossible to sleep. Twice I wandered out to the porch to stare at the deeply black sky studded with twinkling stars. If this was a fairy tale, the night might have been enchanted. I eventually fell asleep and on the second and third nights, I was used to the silence and slept better and longer. Coming back to my own home closer to the city, I was astonished at the level of light and sound I had become inured to over the years, especially the nights sounds.