The screen door kept swinging, trying to latch but missing every time. It was always like that. She wouldn't have to listen to it anymore though, she consoled herself with each miniscule consolation that caught her eye. The grass reminded her that she wouldn't have to hear him (tone deaf) singing while he mowed, fighting to be heard over the mower that would have made it easier to bear. She wouldn't have to yell at him for getting the mail in his underwear....And that flickering streetlight would no longer annoy her as it lit up the bedroom sporadically. The bedroom now meant for one.

The taxi pulled around the corner and came to a final stop in front of her. She Wiped tears from her eyes vigorously, and pulled the long blonde strands of hair away that had stuck to the salty residue. She pulled open the taxi's door meaningfully, and sank into the backseat.

"Where to ma'am?" the man in the front seat asked politely. He was a man in his mid-life, with wide, round eyes from late-night-shift coffee.

"As far North as I can get with 50 bucks." as she spoke she felt as though she was outside herself, watching as the story unfolded in front of her. Perhaps she had read a sad story before going to bed, and this was the resulting dream?

The man heard her voice and studied her face a bit. She saw him finger a dial on the dashboard that cause the lights in the cab to get brighter. She could now see that he was perhaps slightly Mexican...and that his eyes were the color of file folders. For the long while that he studied her, perhaps a question on his tongue, she was surprised to only hear 'Aye Ma'am.' from his mouth.

She stared out the window to her left as the car drove around. She saw everything and nothing at all, her mind a mixture of memories, machinations, misunderstandings, and Justifications. She reached into her purse for her handkerchief and wiped her eyes. when she lifted her head up motel lights streamed into her vision. She felt slightly warmed by this man who had undoubtedly rounded the expense down to the nearest lodgings...but she didn't have any money other than the fair.

Biting her lip she scooted forward slightly, and with a slight motion handed him the money. "That won't me necessary, ma'am." He said with a wry smile. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't decipher, but all she knew was that if she looked for lust or pity or any other ill-will then she would not find it. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, handed it to her over the seat. It was a room key.

She stuttered as she looked at it, at first thinking that he was intending to sleep with her or worse...Her mind was wondering to darker and darker places and her face showed them all. This night could not get any worse even if it started raining. But the man broke her train of thought by saying "don't stay in here forever. It sounds like a storm is brewing." She heard nothing. "You'd better get inside."

She stood in amazement as his lights faded into the distance. There were people walking by along the sidewalk, night owls in the Kansas City fog. Stumbling slightly, she made her way to the hotel, staring at the plastic room key as though it would eventually give her the answers to all her questions. She crossed beneath the Over-hang and through the sliding doors, and as the doors shut behind her, the rain came.