Light On The Horizon

1: Brake Check

Mary crammed her clothes into the suitcase the same way she was cramming down her tears. Her husband - scratch that. Her soon-to-be ex husband stood in the doorway, looking exasperated.

“Mary, stop acting like this. You should’ve seen it coming. June and I just connect better; we see each other all the time at work and I see you, what, twice a week?” he said, pushing himself off the doorframe to take a couple steps closer to her.

Mary couldn’t help but choke out a laugh. “After ten years of paying for med school, and making your bed, and cooking your dinner, and overall being your wife. After all that, I should’ve expected that you would file for divorce because you want to go be with your OR nurse,” she said. She slammed the suitcase shut, her fingers shaking as she struggled to zip it up.

Mark rolled his eyes and followed her as she marched into the bathroom. “You’re being childish. Look, you rush through everything and you never take any time for anyone. What did you really think would happen?” he huffed.

Mary stayed stone cold as she packed a small bag with makeup, a toothbrush, her toiletries, and a hypoallergenic dog shampoo.

“You’re taking Lady? What? No, come on,” Mark whined.

Mary whipped around, putting a finger to Mark’s chest as tears welled up in her eyes. “I bought her. I raised her. I fed her. I trained her. I took her to the shows, I took her to the vet, I took her to the groomers. You? All you ever did for her was make her afraid of the bedroom. She is MY dog. Not yours,” she hissed.

Mark tried to protest as Mary piled her computer bag on top of the suitcase and slung her overnight bag over her shoulder. She then picked up Lady’s travel case full of toys, paperwork, and emergency food and bowls.

Lady, a large grey standard poodle, perked up and trotted to sit next to Mary, watching intensely. “Lady, heel.”

Mark reached a hand out as if to stop her. “No, no, Lady. Lady, come,” he pleaded.

Lady stood at Mary’s side, ready to walk out the door. “Don’t contact me until you have everything ready with the divorce hearing. I’ll text you the address to send the divorce papers when you’re ready. I won’t weigh you down any more,” Mary said. Then she opened the door and struggled out with her bags, Lady close to her side.

Mary shoved things in the trunk in a blur, tears starting to leak through the dam of willpower she had built. Lady was quick to hop into the car and sit when given the command, and laid down with a sigh once she was properly harnessed and clipped to the seat.

Finally, sitting behind the wheel with everything hastily packed, Mary let herself cry. She mourned the loss of her marriage, the betrayal of her husband. She mourned the death of who she had been this morning, and she finally allowed herself to fear the prospect of living alone. She let everything go that had just been fired into her chest today.

Lady whimpered, and Mary finally remembered what she was planning to do. She turned on the car and started driving to the office. At least she still had her career in corporate law.

“I’m sorry, Mary. We have to let you go,” James said quietly.

Mary sat stunned in the managing partner’s office, staring slack jawed at the man behind the desk. She said nothing, trying to figure out how this happened.

James shifted uncomfortably. “Well, see, we’ve had some concerns. You keep sleeping in the office, there’s some conflict of interest issues with your husband’s hospital, and Mr. Laurens is unhappy with your performance on your current case,” he continued. “So, you are fired. Effective immediately.”

“James, I’ve been at this firm for six years. I have handled the murkiest cases. And I’m not on a case for ANY hospital, let alone Mark’s! I just talked to Mr. Laurens yesterday and he said-“

James held up his hand. “It’s out of my hands, Mary. I’ll help you get your things and deposit your severance tonight. I know this isn’t fair, but I can’t help you beyond that.”

In a daze, Mary packed up a couple of small boxes and put them in her car. She hashed out the details of her severance pay and the rest of her cases, and then it was done.

By now, Lady was whining and begging. The poor girl got anxious if she got in the car and didn’t get to play at least a little bit. So Mary drove her to a nearby dog park. It was empty -most people weren’t here this time of day during the week- so Lady had olenty of space to play and run.

Mary idly looked through a stack of old papers, numb to the world even as she threw a tennis ball for Lady. Even champion show dogs need time to burn off steam and be silly, and Lady treasured every second.

Mary, however, couldn’t enjoy even a second of her dog’s antics. Old photographs, receipts from vacations, even her wedding license. She always kept legal documents in a separate filing cabinet in her office, just in case of any issues. In a way she was glad for it.

Suddenly a particular document caught Mary’s eye. It was the deed to a property. That’s right, she had inherited a property from her great aunt Mary Ann years ago. It was at least a two day drive, so Mary hadn’t ever gone and checked on it.

Mary hesitated. She looked from her dog, to the car fully packed with her entire life, to the deed in her name. She had no place to stay, no job, not even any close friends in the city. There was nothing for her here.

Maybe that’s a good thing, Mary thought as she carefully folded up her papers.

With a whistle, Lady came prancing back. Mary hooked her back into the car, entered the address with her GPS, and started out on the longest journey of her life.