A NEW START

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I woke up on that Sunday morning with no plan other than to find pancakes somewhere. Showering and dressing for the day took a while, but not nearly long enough to use up the extra time. I awoke at five am, while the restaurant opened at seven on Sunday.

I chose that day to ride the bike I had built from scratch, rather than the kit bike. The bike I built was a Rube Goldberg looking contraption, but it ran faster and the batteries lasted longer than the kit bike. I didn't mind the wires exposed to the world for its inspection. It kind of make me even more eccentric looking to most folks.

I parked the bike on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. It was the only benefit to riding a bike to breakfast. I would have driven the car except that I had promised my wife that I would stop driving over two years before. Beside in 24 hours the car would be in some other driveway.

I found my usual booth by the window occupied so I sat at my 2nd favorite one in a corner. I didn't even bother with the menu. The middle aged waitress with twenty pounds of excess weight and crooked teeth approached the table.

"I didn't think we were going be seeing you again," she said as she opened her pad.

"It's my last day in town. I thought I would have a plate of flapjacks to celebrate."

"Good, I'm glad you came by to say goodbye one more time." Her voice almost seemed to have the right tone, but there was also a hint of sarcasm in it. Her voice had held sympathy six months before, when my wife passed away. That sympathy had turned to sarcasm as I began moving away from my old life. Lots of people felt as though I had lost my mind. Most seemed to think I should be treated as a foolish child. Others like Helen saw it as some kind of betrayal. Betrayal of all those who would never just up and throw it all away. Throw it all away was their point of reference not mine.

I enjoyed the large stack of pancakes washed down with hot black coffee. Maggie would have loved it as well. I shuddered as I thought, most of the things I had done here, I had done with Maggie. I had to get out of town my present circumstances just made it too sad. If I stayed in that house or even in that town, I would be dead within a year.

I had my own health issues to deal with, but I chose to deal with them differently. I was going on the worlds longest, or maybe the worlds shortest road trip. Only God knew which it would turn out to be.

When I arrived home, I walked through the almost empty house. The Thrift store would be coming by to pick up the last of the furniture from the house as well as the tools from the shed. Everything leaving town with me was stored in the smallest of the bedrooms.

I had slept the night before in a sleeping bag laid out on a folding camp bed. The camp bed was made of nylon canvas stretched over an aluminum frame. It was hard as hell but it suited me. The sleeping bag, the camp bed, along with a few other things from the house, would be leaving town with me. Most of my possessions and all of Maggie's had been sold or given the kid. The car had gone to her along with much of the furniture.

The landfill got the bedding and Goodwill got most of the clothes both my and Maggie's. The place looked sad and dirty without the furniture and pictures on the wall. It was so sad looking that I went onto the porch for my after breakfast coffee.

While the batteries on the bike topped off the charge, I drank three cups of coffee. I also watched about a hundred cars pass the house. I had bought the place because it was on a busy street. My customers, back when I had them, could easily find the house/office. It had proved to be a good investment for me over the years. Even after its usefulness to me ended, it brought a decent price. My status had changed from owner to tenant during the last month. Even that would end the next morning shortly after 6am.

I made a couple of phone calls to say goodbye to a few people that day. It was the least I could do, since I had a few friends I might call on for help someday. I figured it would be a good think to end my time in Grover's Mill congenially.

I made it through the day with only a few thoughts of suicide. I was getting better it seemed. I slept that night peacefully, even though my life was about to turn upside down. Since it had done that once already maybe it would actually come to rest in a position with which I could live.
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