Broken Cages

A story about divorce, acceptance, and promises broken and kept. For Chapter One contest

“Come on, Mommy, it’s time to wake up.”
Little Sarah Mohegan burst through the door, up and onto the bed in a second flat. She bounced and giggled, pulling back the blankets until Carol finally groaned and yanked the covers back over her shoulders.
“Five more minutes, Sarah, please?” Carol begged.
It was hard for Carol to get out of bed these last few weeks. The divorce had come as a complete shock to her. Life had seemed to slip into a perfect, peaceful place where she felt comfort, stability, and most of all, loved by her little family she worked tirelessly to build. Now, it was all falling apart.
“But Mommy, you promised.” Sarah’s big blue eyes filled with tears as she slowly climbed down from the bed, shoulders hunched in disappointment. “You promised we would go today.”
Sarah was three going on thirteen it felt like most days as of late. She was rebellious in her own little mischievous ways. Like how she would trick Carol into making promises she knew she wouldn’t or couldn’t keep. It was just too hard most days to focus on life. But Sarah didn’t understand. How could she? Why should she? No, none of what happened was Sarah’s fault. Carol didn’t know whose fault it was, but she damned sure wasn’t ever going to let Sarah think it was hers.
“Alright, alright,” she said pulling back the covers and reaching out for Sarah with a long, heavy sigh. Sarah smiled, her eyes still wet from disappointment. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and climbed back onto the bed, curling up into her mother’s arms.
Carol caressed Sarah’s long brown hair, running her fingers through the matted pig tails, and wondered when she grew up so fast. Probably over the last few weeks Carol struggled every morning to get out of bed. Probably in all those times she made promises she never intended to keep.
“I love you, Little Bug.” Carol squeezed Sarah into her chest.
“I love you too, Mommy.”
Sarah climbed down from the bed once more, turning to make sure Mommy was really getting up. Satisfied, seeing Carol’s feet touch the floor, off Sarah went. “I’ll go get dressed. I have the best dresses picked out for today!”
“Shouldn't we eat breakfast first?”asked Carol with concern. Sarah was a messy eater. She could just imagine the heartbreak Sarah would feel if she ruined her perfect outfit for today.
“Good idea, Mommy. I can help you make it!” She bounced up and down, her messy pig tails from the day before flopping around her face.
“Okay, Bug, what shall we make?” She smiled, looking down at her now happy daughter as if what happened earlier never occurred.
“I want scrambled eggs and chocolate chip pancakes, Mommy!”
“Okay, you can pour in the chips and help stir the batter, deal?”asked Carol.
As they made breakfast together Sarah began asking a lot of questions about what kinds of animals they might see at the zoo today.
“Do you think they will have elephants?”
“I’m sure they do.”
“What about giraffes?”
“Probably.”
“Ooo, I hope they have monkeys. I love monkeys, Mommy.” Sarah’s blue eyes widened and sparkled like the sea with excitement. She squealed then began to hop around and imitate a monkey.
“Yes, Little Bug, they certainly will have monkeys," she said, remembering the photo on the front of the brochure they got in the mail a few days ago. “Now, let’s hurry and eat so we can get on the road. We have a long ride ahead of us today.”
As they ate, the conversation continued. Once finished, Carol put the dishes in the sink while Sarah ran off to clean up and get dressed. Carol shuffled down the hall, barely able to pick up her feet.
Come on, Carol, ole girl. Let’s do this for Sarah. We both need this, and she deserves it.
After getting dressed, Carol found herself sitting on the edge of her bed, wishing she could climb back in. She wondered how much longer she was going to feel like this. Just then her phone rang. She reached across her bed to retrieve it from the nightstand. Who could this possibly be? Realizing it was her ex, she wondered what he could be wanting. “What is it, Jeremy? We were just about to leave.”
Sarah came running into the room at the sound of her dad's name. “Is it Daddy? Tell him we are going to the zoo. Ask if he will come too?”
All the while, Jeremy was on the other end of the phone, not giving an answer but rather belittling Carol and questioning if they really were going as she had broken all the other promises to Sarah before this. He was also accusing her of turning Sarah against him. On and on, one blame after another. Carol asked him again if he would join them, jokingly he said, “sure, I will meet you both there," as he scoffed.
“Okay, Jeremy, we’re leaving now. If you don’t show up maybe you can call Sarah tonight and she can tell you all about the zoo.” She hung up before getting a reply.
“Okay, Bug, you ready? I’ll grab the camera so we can take pictures of all the animals. Maybe next time you see daddy, you can show them to him if he doesn’t end up coming today.”
“Yay, Mommy! Let’s go!”
Sarah was so much happier than a few hours ago. Why couldn’t she be that happy? Why wasn’t she able to move on from this divorce? Why was it hitting her this hard while everyone else seemed to be able to let go?
Why? Because it was so damned unexpected. There were no signs. He didn’t stay out all night. They never fought about anything. They even had date nights still. Life with Jeremy seemed too good to be true. Sure, they disagreed about some things, but neither of them ever went to bed mad at the other. At least, that’s what she thought. Now she wondered. What happened? Where did it go so wrong?
One day, coming home from the store, she was stopped by a stranger before entering the house and handed an envelope containing divorce papers. He couldn't even tell her in person. He had packed his things while she was out and never returned. Yes, that’s how it happened. No explanation, ever. Not even now, weeks later. The end.
But now, watching how happy Sarah was at this moment, dancing around in circles in the many layers of dresses she picked out to wear today, Carol made a promise she was damn sure going to keep. From this day forward, everything she did would be for Little Bug, no matter what it was.
“Okay, Bug, you got everything?” she asked, patting Sarah’s stuffed monkey she was holding in her arms.
“I’m ready, Mommy,” Sarah said, gleaming with excitement.
Alright, let’s get this journey started then,” she said as she buckled Sarah in and climbed into the driver's seat. Maybe, just maybe, Jeremy would show up. Who knows, who cares, really. She didn’t. They were going to have the best day ever, even if it ended up just being the two of them.
Carol started the car, and off they went down the road. Destination, The Zoo.