Stolen

by Angela Compton
(Fort Campbell, KY)

Honk! “Crap!” I curse, swerving to miss the thoughtless pedestrian. I left in such a hurry. I am so ticked at that jerk! How dare he! After all I have done for him, I think. 25 years of marriage, a political career and now this! Another woman. Jerk! Suitable adjectives fill my head, as pressure builds, my heart pounding. My clammy hands grip the shuttering steering wheel. I dismiss I must have run up on the curb.

How could I have been such a gullible, stupid….and why am I abusing myself here? That man took my entire life from me…..My head throbs. I am not sure if it is my angry pulse, or something more. Nothing is clear now. I look into the rearview mirror and it takes several moments to register. Blue lights, people running everywhere. The scene is coming into clearer focus as I realize what just happened.

I pull over to the side of the road. The police officer catches up, and cautiously approaches my window. It is as though time is frozen. I stare ahead, coming back to the reality at hand, like a person awaking from the foggy stupor following major surgery.”Ma’am?” he proceeded. His words trail off into oblivion. I look into the rear view mirror again, as the EMT’s arrive upon the scene. The lifeless body is where it landed. I step out of the car, hands raised. The stares, gasps and whispers swirl around my throbbing head. “Bastard,” I think. “Now you have taken my freedom too.”