CHOICES
Andy had his wife drop him off at the gate at the busy airport. The traffic had been heavier than usual and he was running a bit late and didn't want to miss his plane. The kids were both asleep in their back carseats and so he just blew them a kiss. He was only going away for a week and so he swiftly and absent-mindedly hugged his wife before running to catch his flight.
They had been awake very late last night, arguing as usual. She couldn't see him staying at a job just because it paid so well when his family hardly ever saw him. She claimed the children acted up while he was away and that they needed their daddy at home more. She told him that if he continued to travel so much, she would go back to work & leave the boys in a day-care centre, something they both had agreed they'd never do.
His airplane seat welcomed his solid, tall frame and he ordered a drink. As he looked out of the window at the town they lived in, he realized that he didn't really know anyone. Too busy to join the Lions or the Masons, too tired to join the YMCA, gone away too often to coach his boys sports teams and too disconnected to really care about his wife's hobbies, church and volunteer work.
As the big aircraft began its descent down the runway, he suddenly saw a picture in his mind of his family driving to their nice, comfortable home in the cul de sac; he saw their dog, Bounty, rushing to greet them and lick the boys faces. He saw his lovely wife, hair in a baseball cap, pulling fresh sheets off the clothesline. He saw her lighting the barbeque grill to roast some hotdogs and marshmallows for their supper........
Then he saw the swimming pool which he had just hired their neighbor, Josh to clean out for the summer. Josh always teased them that he was staying single in hopes that if Jayne ever left Andy, he'd step up to the plate and have a ready-made family. But the other neighbors were workaholics too and Andy didn't know them at all. He knew his wife was teaching the kids to swim and probably right now, she was putting on her bikini. He closed his eyes to picture her.........slim, tanned, busty.
"Care for a pillow?" the flight attendant was asking. He rubbed his eyes and wondered how long he'd been asleep. As he settled down to rest some more, he saw they had been in the air an hour already and when he awoke again, they were descending to Rio de Janerio. He stayed aboard the plane and waited and watched as a couple of hundred people deplaned and others shortly took their places, excited to be going to Paris.
Andy got out his wallet to check to make sure he had his Passport and money. He saw the picture of himself with his wife and sons and he held it close to his heart. He wanted to tell them he missed them and loved them but the phones were not working in English. Suddenly, he knew in his heart that this was his final trip away from home. He would email his boss from his laptop, immediately. After doing so, he wrote another one to the firm asking them to keep it quiet until he, himself, told his wife. It would be cause for a huge celebration! A party, even and he'd ask all their neighbors!
He couldn't wait to get this business trip over with and opened his briefcase to glance thru some of the important papers his lawfirm had entrusted him to deliver and get signed. Like a small boy at Christmas, he wanted the clock to move quickly so he could hurry home to their bright, sunny kitchen and swoop his beautiful wife up in his strong arms, swing her around the room and tell her the great news.
The aircraft was now full with 228 people aboard and was headed to Paris, France. The big, shiny Concorde was just 4 years old and had made this trip many times before. The weather was good and the wine was sweet as Andy put his seat back and dozed again. It was just before 11 pm and it had been a long day. How he wished he was home with his family, in his old shorts and Tshirt, tucking in the boys and taking his wife to bed.
He slept and snored softly while most of the passengers did the same. Few had their cabin lights on to read; all was quiet and serene. The flight attendants were seated as the Captain had suddenly put the "FASTEN SEATBELT" sign on, in french. Then, all of the lights went out! The music stopped; the movies quit. The aircraft dropped in elevation and then it swiftly and without any warning, continued to nosedive into the cold, open Ocean awaiting them.......Andy never woke up.
A year had passed and still Jayne was in shock. She watched as her small boys, both who looked so much like their father, played baseball. Josh was their coach and when she didn't feel like going, he took them with him. Come to think of it, he spent more time with them than their father ever did. She should probably make him their Godfather in case something ever happened to her.
When Andy's boss had informed her that had been Andy's last trip since he had emailed in his resignation, she had cried herself to sleep every other night. Life was cruel; a widow at just 32!
As she carried fresh flowers from her garden to Andy's grave, she wondered what was below the dirt. His body had never been found and she took small solace from the fact that over 200 of them were still at rest, at sea. Nothing of his had been found.
She started the barbeque up and placed some hamburgers and potatos on the grill. Soon her boys would be home and needing to be fed and bathed and loved. But what about her? The dog walked by and licked the salt from her bare leg. "What about me?" she asked Bounty. And he pulled her shirt towards the house next door; she laughed but he pulled harder. Suddenly, she was at Josh's back doorsteps and Bounty just sat down. When she tried to leave, he growled at her.
And that's where Josh found her when he pulled up with her sons; she was asleep with her head on Bounty's lazy, big body. And her choice was made for her..........
