Bright Days Ahead

I sat staring at the crackling fire in the fireplace of the lobby of the lakeview resort . It held me in a hypnotic trance . So much has happened in the last 6 months that it felt good to just be able to sit , breathe , and simply exist . I still had no idea what lay ahead for my life . Everything in life happens for a reason is what people say . I just couldn’t imagine how my marriage of 15 years ending , my mother passing away , and my house being robbed while I worked the overnight shift at Main Street Hospital would lead to anything positive in my life . My husband Mark had moved out 6 months prior explaining that he just wasn’t able to be the person I needed him to be anymore . And that was that . He left . I had been living alone only 2 months trying to find a new way of living , on my own , trying to rebuild my life when my mother passed away unexpectedly from cardiac arrest . Having been raised an only child by a strong single mother created a very strong bond between the two of us . More like friends and sisters than mother and daughter. That type of relationship doesn’t always work for some but it worked for us . We had talked daily on the phone and spent a lot of our free time together . Is that what drove Mark away ? My closeness with my mother who never seemed to see eye to eye with him on anything , from politics to his choice of music on the radio .Regardless , I was devastated after my husband left me and my mom had passed . I had lost two of the closest people in my life , both gone in a matter of months of each other . 

While I was still grieving from those losses I tried to carry on , going to work as a med-surg nurse at the hospital . It’s the one thing that gave me solace and comfort . To be able to provide care to those in need , helping them in their hardest times and with their grieving actually helped me push thru mine . Others may say that trying to mend others while mending yourself is counterproductive. But with me it was the opposite . And the close relationships I had with my coworkers only helped strengthen my resolve to move forward . And yet as I attempted to move forward another blow to my life occurred four months after my moms passing . I was asked to cover a night shift on a Friday due to a call in . I said yes as the extra money wouldn’t hurt and my recent Friday nights werent anything to brag about . I finished out the shift exhausted yet feeling good about the care I had provided that night and felt happy to help out my fellow coworkers . I drove the ten miles back home eager to shower and climb into bed . Upon approaching my front door I realized immediately that something was wrong . The front door had been left open a crack but the doorknob and center glass pane were completed broken and smashed . It appeared as though someone had broken the window and could not get the door unlocked from the outside so chose to smash the whole door knob to gain entry to the house . I immediately called 911 and booked it back to my car on the street . After the police came and searched the house I was allowed to go in and assess the damages as long as I didn’t touch anything . The entire house was ransacked . Some items were stolen , others destroyed . Did I feel unlucky that my house was robbed because I wasn’t home or did I feel lucky that I just happened to not be home on the night my house was robbed ? I was not sure yet . The police were going to fully process the crime scene , do a full investigation , and from the amount of items missing and the damage done to the house it would take awhile . By now it was midday and my insurance company was called , burgarly and destruction of property was reported . My coverage included the cost of lodging at a hotel until the investigation was complete and a restoration crew was able to make my home livable again . Which leads me back to my present situation , sitting in the lobby of the lakeview resort staring at a crackling fire . It was late October in Michigan and cooler weather was creeping in . As I was engrossed by the fire , my mind wandered . Why had Mark suddenly vanished from my life , without warning . I really had no idea he was so unhappy . I thought we had plans and goals . Having children was never in the future , we had both agreed. Yet we loved to travel and simply spend time together , so I thought . Our careers were fulfilling and I thought we were solid . I wondered why was my mom taken so soon , too soon at her age and so soon after my husband moved out simultaneously serving me with divorce papers . And last but not least why did someone choose to break in , burgalerize and destroy the inside of my comfortable little two bedroom home . Was it personal and was someone angry at me over their treatment at the hospital ? Was it drug related ? Did the person or persons know I was in the medical profession and thought I might have such things at my disposable . I have nothing of real value , just normal every day items . The most expensive thing that I was aware that was missing was the wedding ring from Mark which made me sad to even look at . So I had stuffed it in the bottom of my jewelry box , thinking I could deal with that later . Well now that choice was made for me . I no longer had to look at that ring as it was most likely gone forever . The police had no real leads , no fingerprints , no hits at any local pawn shops . It was probable that the culprit would never be found . “ Stella , “ I spoke out loud to my self . “ There is no sense in self pity or wallowing in grief with the what ifs and why . Time to get back on your feet . “ I had been at the resort for a week already . My house was expected for me to be ready to move back in by the end of the month . I actually dreaded the thought of returning. Would I ever feel safe ? It already didn’t feel the same without Mark there and no daily calls from my mom with me curled up on the sofa chatting away with her . A lot of my furniture would have to be replaced due to the damage caused by the intruder and it simply wouldn’t feel like my home anymore . Maybe it was time to move on . I went to my hotel room to retrieve my coat and decided to go for a walk . It was still early enough that I should be able to get in an hours walk before it got dark . I headed out the front entrance of the resort , pepper spray in hand just in case . Being robbed makes a person a bit anxious when out alone . I walked along the sidewalk bordering the street of the resort for awhile the crossed over to some designated walking trails directly across from the resort . There were also some camping sites available although they were deserted at this time of year . I walked along the trails briskly , trying to clear my head and tentatively thinking about my future . Before I knew it I had covered the designated trails and returned back to the area where the campsites were available. I decide to sit outside on one of the picnic tables as the sun was still not setting and I felt completely safe . I was relaxing and simply taking in the beauty of nature when I heard some rustling and a whimper near one of the bushes at the entrance of one of the trails . I hadn’t heard anything before and the bush was small enough that it would be impossible to hide an adult human . My curiosity got the better of me and I stepped gingerly toward the bush using my cell phone flash light to see underneath . Peering back at me was two beautiful brown puppy eyes. There lay a tiny dog with what looked like an injured paw . A small sharp stick had poked thru one of his foot pads and was imbedded in the soft flesh . Even with repeated coaxing I was unable to get this little creature to come closer . I kept at it, determined not to leave a suffering animal out on its own when the evening temperatures were steadily dropping. I was finally able to sweep him out of cover with some swats of my hand and quickly grabbed him before he was able to get too far . I discovered this little sweetheart was a male puppy . Once he was in my arms I could feel him shivering . I wrapped him in my coat and headed back toward the resort . After confirming with the resort what the allowances were on pets in the building I quickly put a search on my phone to find the nearest emergency vet . My heart went out to the little guy . He was so small and appeared to be all alone in the world at the moment . He appeared to be a lot like me with an added injury . I had no idea what was in either of our futures but I felt determined to make his a brighter one . I found the address for an emergency vet within a half hour drive so I wrapped the little guy in a hotel towel and drove there with him in my lap after phoning them to tell them we were coming . “ Welcome to the Animal Hospital “ a dark haired man said to me as I entered the building . Before I could respond he continued . “ You’ll have to forgive me, I’m new to the front desk . I’m usually in the back actually working on the animals but we are short staffed tonight so the vet is also your reptionist ! “ He let out a chuckle . “ My vet tech will be back shortly . What can I help you with ? “ As I looked at this dark haired man with his deep brown eyes and beautiful smile I stopped dead in my tracks . “ Ryan Fletcher ? “ I said his name slowly as though I were summoning him thru a seance yet I didn’t have to do that because he was here , in the flesh . The man who I had dated all thru high school up until we both moved away for college . We promised each other to maintain our relationship yet keep it real as he was heading downstate to veterinary school and I was heading north on a full scholarship to nursing school in Marquette. Needless to say the relationship didn’t last the distance and before we knew it we had broken up and were actively dating other people . 

Now , at this moment in this emergency vet office , Ryan looked at me quizzically, “ I’m sorry have we me……. Oh my gosh Stella !? Stella Harris ? I had no idea you were still in town ! I just started working here a month ago. I’ve been moving , unpacking and haven’t had a chance to look up the old gang or anything . How are you !? “ 

I remained shell shocked , I hadn’t thought of Ryan or seen him in over 20 years . Yet my head was swimming . I needed to avert the attention away from me , from us , from my memories . I looked down at the bundle

I was holding and blurted out “ well more importantly I’m worried about this little guy !” I began to unwrap the towel while explaining where I found him and pointing out the stick embedded in his paw . Just then the vet tech returned to the room and she and Ryan got to work , removing the stick and bandaging up the paw . Afterwards Ryan handed him to me wrapped in a new tiny blanket with Animal Hospital Embroidered on the corner . “ The towel you brought in had some blood on it , “ he stated . “ Tell the front desk I will wash it and return it to them by tomorrow. “ He grinned at me . I could feel my face flush . I had been living out of a hotel room for a week . I could just imagine that I looked a fright . “ How have you been Stella ? How’s your mom !? “ I felt tears spring into my eyes . Memories sprang into mind of Ryan picking me up for dates in high school , being ever so polite to my mom when he did . He always knew the right thing to say to her even if I was a few minutes late after curfew . I never got in trouble thanks to Ryan’s charms and quick wit with my mother . “ Unfortunately…….she recently passed , “ I stammered . 

Ryan looked crushed as soon as the words came out of my mouth “ I’m so sorry Stella . She was such a wonderful person and she raised you all on her own . I always admired her and I know you two were so close , “ I nodded at him , afraid if I spoke that I would simply burst into tears . I snuggled the puppy in the fresh blanket and wondered how am I going to get out of here without letting him see how vulnerable I am . I never wanted to be anyone’s sympathy case . I was strong like my mother and I could take care of myself . If whatever greater force that’s out there caused Ryan and I to cross paths again I wasn’t going to push the reunion by presenting myself as a desperate individual. I didn’t have to contemplate long as suddenly a woman came running into the building carrying a crate with a wailing cat . “ She’s in labor ! “ she cried . “ its time ! I have no idea what to do ! “ 

Ryan ushered the woman to a room in the back and summoned his vet tech to follow . I held the puppy close to me and turned , starting to walk toward the door . I hoped I was in the clear and could make my great escape . Yet as I opened the door to leave I heard Ryan’s voice , “ Stella , I would love to catch up ! Can we meet up sometime soon ? “ I looked back and he was standing with his head stuck out of the doorway of the back room . That same quirky smile I remember from years ago . That smile made me feel happy and safe years ago and suddenly gave me hope today . “ yes , “ I stated . “ I would love that . “ 

and I really meant it . 

“ ok “ he replied , “ you know where to find me “ he winked and closed the door . 

Yes I knew where to find him and when I chose to I would . Where that would lead I didn’t know . All I knew at that moment was that something had lead me there to that office and that something was sleeping soundly wrapped in a blanket in my lap. I drove slowly back to the resort and upon returning I ordered a drink and returned to the lobby . 

I held my new found friend , while scrolling my phone for a new residence that comes with a fenced in yard. In between my searches I would gaze at the crackling fire , hypnotized by the dancing flames and imagined a bright future .