and return to
my apartment to pack. It was for times
like this that I always kept a suitcase full
of things ready for travel. The chauffeur
was nice enough to wait and offered to
take me to the airport after seeing me in
distress. He called in another car for
Alessa, leaving me grateful for the kind
gesture. I was able to book a flight
leaving in a few hours, getting me into
Colorado Springs Airport before dawn.
I sent a message to my sister who I
hoped was getting a little sleep.
“On my way out now, arrive at
4:30 am. Call me to come get you, love
you.”
Chapter 12 - The
Long Road Home
I boarded the red eye flight to
Colorado Springs, feeling as if a
bowling ball was in my stomach. I
opened the pill bottle in my purse and
cracked one of the small white circles in
half. Flying itself did not make me
anxious; however, everything else did. A
low dose of Valium would be enough to
get me through the four-hour flight, and
perhaps the weekend of hell I was
heading into. I curled into my seat and
rested my head against the window,
waiting for the medicine to kick in. Once
it did, I floated in a void the entire time,
except when the flight attendant woke me
as we were preparing to land. I
imagined it would be the only sleep that
would come for the next few days.
The plains were dark as we arrived
at the terminal; very few people were
around, making it easy to navigate.
Dawn was creeping up over the eastern
horizon; thankfully, the car rental was a
twenty-four hour place, so I did not have
to wait for them to open. The roads were
free of any snow, so after acquiring a
large cup of coffee, I chose to indulge in
one of my favorite past-times.
I had enough time to cross the city
and watch the sunrise from Garden of the
Gods Park. Although it was freezing,
there was something transcendental
about sitting on the crest of the hill,
discovering the first slivers of gold
breaking through. The sky blossomed in
shades of purple, magenta, blues and
oranges. Bright rays danced against the
large stone outcroppings of rocks that
towered all around me.
Vivienne would be arriving in a
few hours. Not wanting to get caught in
the morning traffic, I plotted my route
around the city to check out some old
haunts. First, I took a leisurely stroll
through Manitou to taste from the natural
springs that were scattered throughout
the city. Then I went in search of some
funky Native American jewelry and
before I knew it, the time had flown by
rather quickly.
Rushing to get to the airport, I
crossed the street to get back to my car
without paying attention. The loud sound
of a car horn just a few feet from my
body fully woke me up. All I could make
out against the glare of the sun was the
grill of a Jeep that just narrowly avoided
hitting me. I probably scared the poor
person to death. Unfortunately, mornings
are not my friend and my middle finger
went up before I could stop it. The
driver raced off as soon as I was safely
on the sidewalk. If my nerves were not
already shot, it may have bothered me
more. I decided not to tell Vivienne
since I was okay and vowed to pay
better attention. Not even three hours
back and I was already courting harm.
I made it back to the airport in one
piece to pick my sister up. She looked
just as bad as I did and was in dire need
of sleep, too. We called the hotel and
gave them our sob story. They graciously
allowed us to do an early check-in since
it was the off-season and they had plenty
of rooms. Although we agreed to no
more than five hours of sleep, twelve
had passed before I heard knocking on
my door. Vivienne crawled into my bed
and shut out the light once again.
A few hours later, we both awoke.
She had contacted some of her friends to
notify them she would be back in town
and wanted to see them. I told no one, as
there was no one I wanted to see. I
wanted to get this done and get out as
soon as possible. She headed for
my apartment to pack. It was for times
like this that I always kept a suitcase full
of things ready for travel. The chauffeur
was nice enough to wait and offered to
take me to the airport after seeing me in
distress. He called in another car for
Alessa, leaving me grateful for the kind
gesture. I was able to book a flight
leaving in a few hours, getting me into
Colorado Springs Airport before dawn.
I sent a message to my sister who I
hoped was getting a little sleep.
“On my way out now, arrive at
4:30 am. Call me to come get you, love
you.”
Chapter 12 - The
Long Road Home
I boarded the red eye flight to
Colorado Springs, feeling as if a
bowling ball was in my stomach. I
opened the pill bottle in my purse and
cracked one of the small white circles in
half. Flying itself did not make me
anxious; however, everything else did. A
low dose of Valium would be enough to
get me through the four-hour flight, and
perhaps the weekend of hell I was
heading into. I curled into my seat and
rested my head against the window,
waiting for the medicine to kick in. Once
it did, I floated in a void the entire time,
except when the flight attendant woke me
as we were preparing to land. I
imagined it would be the only sleep that
would come for the next few days.
The plains were dark as we arrived
at the terminal; very few people were
around, making it easy to navigate.
Dawn was creeping up over the eastern
horizon; thankfully, the car rental was a
twenty-four hour place, so I did not have
to wait for them to open. The roads were
free of any snow, so after acquiring a
large cup of coffee, I chose to indulge in
one of my favorite past-times.
I had enough time to cross the city
and watch the sunrise from Garden of the
Gods Park. Although it was freezing,
there was something transcendental
about sitting on the crest of the hill,
discovering the first slivers of gold
breaking through. The sky blossomed in
shades of purple, magenta, blues and
oranges. Bright rays danced against the
large stone outcroppings of rocks that
towered all around me.
Vivienne would be arriving in a
few hours. Not wanting to get caught in
the morning traffic, I plotted my route
around the city to check out some old
haunts. First, I took a leisurely stroll
through Manitou to taste from the natural
springs that were scattered throughout
the city. Then I went in search of some
funky Native American jewelry and
before I knew it, the time had flown by
rather quickly.
Rushing to get to the airport, I
crossed the street to get back to my car
without paying attention. The loud sound
of a car horn just a few feet from my
body fully woke me up. All I could make
out against the glare of the sun was the
grill of a Jeep that just narrowly avoided
hitting me. I probably scared the poor
person to death. Unfortunately, mornings
are not my friend and my middle finger
went up before I could stop it. The
driver raced off as soon as I was safely
on the sidewalk. If my nerves were not
already shot, it may have bothered me
more. I decided not to tell Vivienne
since I was okay and vowed to pay
better attention. Not even three hours
back and I was already courting harm.
I made it back to the airport in one
piece to pick my sister up. She looked
just as bad as I did and was in dire need
of sleep, too. We called the hotel and
gave them our sob story. They graciously
allowed us to do an early check-in since
it was the off-season and they had plenty
of rooms. Although we agreed to no
more than five hours of sleep, twelve
had passed before I heard knocking on
my door. Vivienne crawled into my bed
and shut out the light once again.
A few hours later, we both awoke.
She had contacted some of her friends to
notify them she would be back in town
and wanted to see them. I told no one, as
there was no one I wanted to see. I
wanted to get this done and get out as
soon as possible. She headed for
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