Another Lonely Day

The house was too quiet. I paced through the living room one more time, but the silence was still deafening. The only sound seemed to be coming from my padding across the hard wood floor and my breathing that was accompanied by an occasional deep sigh. How could I possibly be expected to get through one more day of this agonizing loneliness?

In another vain attempt to distract myself, I decided to attempt a change of venue. Not that I could leave the house, but I could stop peering at these uninteresting walls. I positioned myself in front of my favorite window in the foyer and peered through the smudged glass. Nothing seemed to be happening outside either. What a disappointment. No birds or squirrels were even moving through our yard. I would have even welcomed a visit from the neighbor’s cat as long as she kept her distance. As annoying as she was, at least it would have made time seem to move a little faster.

I rested my chin on the windowsill and once again heaved a deep sigh.

Suddenly I realized that the shadows in the yard were being cast closer to the house. I picked up my head and tilted it to the right. Was I hearing things or was that the slow rumble that I had been waiting for? I could hardly contain myself, because it was. My heart was pounding with excitement as I ran to the window closest to the front door and watched with unbridled anticipation as the yellow bus came to a lumbering stop in front of our house. I couldn’t keep my feet on the floor as the sighs from earlier were replaced by the deep happy barks that welcomed my kids home from school.