Thanks for all the feedback on the last two posts. I am going to keep posting blurbs from this piece until something exciting comes along. I will post a notification when that happens.
To answer any questions, this is from my past. Please feel free to comment, edit and harass if needs be.
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That Saturday I got online and started filling out paperwork. I had spent all of Friday night at home with my parents, watching kids shows and handing out Halloween candy. It was an uneventful holiday and I was depressed. My friend had sent me an e-mail telling me to check out a new artist, Zac Brown Band. I logged onto Itunes and bought the most popular song, 'Chicken Fried', and then continued on to the legal paperwork.
Something between the lyrics of this hillbilly anthem and my emotions I had this sudden urge. Finally I stood up, and began to dance, poorly, but I moved my body, feeling the beat. As the song stopped, so did I, and I stared at the laptop I was using. 'Damn that thing. Damn him.' I thought, feeling empty and sad.
All of it happened so fast. Finally I sent out a message to two of my friends, one a fire fighter in training and the other a friend who was trying to get into POST. Between the two of them, they understood me, because they had their own passions. They were also the only two that knew what happened three days before. The only times I felt somewhat normal were when I was talking to them, shooting the bull and talking about cowboy boots, country music and medical Dramas.
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Three weeks passed of long hours at work, lonely nights and long hours of orientation at my new job. Only working two days a week I had to figure out the scheduling between the two jobs and school, which was halfway through the quarter. I had no desire to go to school, had no drive. I would skip classes and go into the office three hours early, and make it before anyone else. I would do my job and then leave the office before lunch, driving home in silence. Finally one night my Fire Fighter Friend, Tim, called me.
"Get your boots on, I'll be there in fifteen." He said, before I could ask any questions the phone had been hung up.
My mother argued with me about going out. She called me a 'cheater' and told me that it was inappropriate. I rolled my eyes and put on my jacket as I stepped out and into the drive way, which was blanketed with fresh snow. Closing my eyes I looked to the sky and let the snowflakes kiss my cheeks. After a few moments I was brought back to the present to the sound of Tim's truck as he pulled up. Without saying anything I got in and we drove off in silence.
"So what's up?" I asked uneasily as I put on my seat belt and shook the snow off of my jacket.
"You are depressed." Tim said. "And so I am taking you out." He finished, giving me a smile.
We pulled up to a comedy club on the north side of town thirty minutes later. When we got there we were met by two friends of mine from my EMT-Basic class, friends that were not friends of Tim's by any means, he had arranged it for me.
I laughed that night. We cracked jokes and shared a pitcher of Coke and some fries. We even got made fun of by the comedian, who nicknamed us the 'hillbilly's in the back.' and made fun at our expense.
On the way home I sat quietly in the passenger seat. My mind reeled to where I was and where I am, and I wasn't happy with it, but I had to live with it. Finally I came to a conclusion of what I had to do, I had to return to my roots. My roots was the cowgirl in me.
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Thanksgiving came and with it so did text messages from my other friend, Bubba. As I finished up Thanksgiving with my family he sent me a text message. Relieved to find a break from the awkward silences and the obvious avoiding of talking about my fiasco, I opened my phone to see a plead for help. He was begging me to come over so that his grandma would behave. I passed my phone to my mom, who smiled and nodded, giving me permission to escape.
He picked me up in five minutes and we took off, heading back to his house in order to save his mom from his grandma, or so his excuse to me was. Once there we talked, joked, played video games and even drove grandma home at the end of the night. It was a different night, but it was a lot of fun.
That following Monday I called the courts to see how my paperwork was going through. I had submitted it ten days before, but I wasn't told whether it was ten regular days or business days. I waited by a bridge, listening to the music they deemed crappy enough for those of us on hold. My heart raced. I tried to focus on anything besides the phone. I watched the train pass in front of me, watched the other cars, even the mucky urban sunset. Finally I heard a voice ask my name.
"Yes?" I replied, almost too quickly.
"The divorce was finalized on December 1st." She said. I smiled, that was today. "At about 10:00 a.m."
"So I am single?"I asked excitedly, happy that it had gone that quick.
"Yes you are." The lady said laughing. "Take care now."
The phone hung up and I sat there in shock. It was over, the drama, the signing legal forms, the worrying over his not showing up to court, it had all paid off for me. I smiled and then put in my new country music mix and turned it up loud as I started the long drive home. I was finally free. The mess was finally over.
I could go back to being me.
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