Moonlight Shadow Chapter Six ~Carried Away By The Moonlight Shadow~

Chapter Six

~Carried Away By The Moonlight Shadow~

Stephanie leaves the vet clinic and stops at a new doughnut place on the way home. She holds her coffee with both hands and stares out of the window. All around her people are talking or laughing, but what she hears is a deafening silence. Bob is gone. He will no longer suffer. That's the only thing that matters. Once again she tells herself. She's no stranger to loneliness, death and sorrow. She knows how to get on with her life. But the rapidly growing hole within her heart refuses to be ignored. She misses the sound of Bob's breathing. She misses Bob's goofy smile. She misses his warmth and trusting eyes. She hopes there was more she could do. She prays she didn't make a wrong decision. She hates feeling this helpless. And she doesn't want to go home alone. 

Home?

She almost smiles. The 2-story house has already stopped feeling like a home to her. It has a lot of memories, too much memories, as a matter of fact.  And now, without Bob, it'll be nothing but the place where she lives. For now. 

Yes, she's going to sell the house and finds herself a new home. Probably in a new town, a new city, where she knows no one and no one knows her. She needs a brand new start. She wants to forget about the past, about those who she hates, and those who she loves but can not have...

Maybe she will pay Connie a visit. Maybe she will then go to Seattle to watch Ichiro rob someone of a homerun. Maybe she will take a trip to Alaska or Canada.  Maybe she will learn to live on her own. Maybe she will meet someone else.  Maybe she can finally let go and move on.

She takes a sip of the lukewarm coffee and starts eating the chocolate-caramel doughnut.  She didn't cry when Bob stopped breathing.  She didn't want her big orange dog to worry about her. She nodded and answered the vet's questions and made the necessary arrangements afterward but she wasn't really listening or paying attention. She keeps on chewing the sweet pastry. She tries not to think of her life.  She tries not to think of the vast emptiness that's going to greet her the moment she unlocks the front door.  She finishes her coffee and wonders if Bob has already made friends in Doggie Heaven.


She stands up and makes her decision. She's going to go home and call the realtors. There's nothing for her here. Not any more.