Lunch Break Away

/ Liz H

Six Sentence Stories

Honestly, she could sit here all day and watch the water, the gulls, and the waves wink their private jokes to one another, the sun heating her pale, white shoulders as she leaned over the steel railing that bordered the sharp drop to the river below.

The winter had been long and hard and lonely, even as her skis and snowshoes had taken her to natural places far beyond the isolation and limitations of her home office window. But now that the pandemic had lifted, she was back in the many-storied downtown office building that stretched its imperious hand, middle finger extended, over the great, wide river that traveled the length of her country, gathering a multitude of stories from those who lived along its banks, finally dumping into a vast ocean of even more precious and fragile life.

Surely she could do something that gave back, rather than took away from the people and planet she loved; student loans be damned, she was not meant for corporate life.

Reality bites, even as the clock ticks; she tasted the bitterness of waiting, even as freedom beckoned.

She checked the laces of her smart canvas tennis shoes, her small rebellion of the daily crush, brushed off her pencil skirt as she turned away from the river and headed back into the fray, flinging her suit coat over one shoulder.

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2022)

The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “CANVAS”, and here’s where you join the party:  Six Sentence Stories

26 thoughts on “Lunch Break Away”

  1. I can well imagine the struggles many are facing who worked from home for two years and are now required to return to the offices. I thought you captured the emotions beautifully.

    Like

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  3. Agree with Lady S: “I rather enjoyed the isolation of the pandemic. Despised the death and division it brought.”

    Outside, there was that brief perfect moment when there were hardly any vehicles on the road, no planes in the sky, no one came to cut the grass and trees, wild flowers were everywhere, and animals curious at the silence came out to play. It was extraordinary.

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  4. Your story played before my eyes like a film clip, Liz. Wonderful words, especially that final line which made me take a mental step backwards so as to avoid being caught by that defiant sweep of her jacket. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Doug got to it first, but my favorite line, hell, make that, ‘the line I wish I’d thought of’ is:

    “…watch…the waves wink their private jokes to one another,”
    damn!*

    * a compliment writ short

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I rather enjoyed the isolation of the pandemic. Despised the death and division it brought!! But not having to speak or join in on some frivolous activities gave me more time to read and reflect.
    Just my first thoughts to your SSS. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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