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A short story (part 1) 

about Norah

Needing Someone

Norah didn’t wake up in the best of moods, and there was a brief moment she wished she wouldn’t wake up at all.   Betrayal didn’t sting any less in the morning light, and her heart felt so fractured she wasn’t sure it could mend.     There are things that are better never known, and Norah learned one of those dreadful secrets the night before.   

Lissa and Norah had been friends since fifth grade.    Years apart at rival colleges, busy careers, and Lissa’s divorce hadn’t broken the bond.   Norah was devastated two years ago when Lissa had been killed in a freak highway accident.  The weeks and months following the funeral were a haze of jumbled memories, but one little detail that Norah had shoved back after the accident was suddenly foremost in her mind.  For a short while before the accident, Lissa had become distant in little ways that Norah could sense, but not specifically name, and she never got the chance to talk to her about it.   Now, Norah fully understood.

Barely a year after Lissa’s death Norah’s husband of seven years filed for legal separation.   Bob had taken Lissa’s death pretty hard, but he had been a rock for Norah during those months of adjusting to life without her best friend.    It wasn’t a big shock to Norah when Bob presented her with the papers; their marriage had lacked passion for years, and while it wasn’t what she wanted, she adjusted well to the divorce.  

After Lissa’s marriage failed, her husband, Phil, moved back to his hometown over two hundred miles away, and Norah hadn’t seen him since…until last night.   He didn’t even come back for Lissa’s funeral.    It had been good to see him, and when he suggested a cup of coffee, Norah agreed.   Over the course of catching up, Norah mentioned her divorce.   Phil wasn’t surprised, and matter-of-factly said he was shocked that she stuck with Bob after the affair.   He couldn’t even stay in the same city after finding out what Lissa and Bob had done.   Even now, he said, it was hard to come back.

How she remained in her chair, she was not sure.   It was as if everything abruptly stopped; people stopped shopping, cashiers stopped scanning, the world stopped turning, and Norah was certain she had quit breathing.    She never said a word, but Phil quickly realized she hadn’t known.   He wished he could take the hurt back, but the knife was already in her heart, and anything further he said would only twist it.   He wanted to drive her home, but she made a hasty departure, and Phil decided to leave it alone.  

Staring out of the kitchen window in the morning light, Norah wasn’t sure how she made it home.   She hoped the same strength that got her home last night would take her to her mountain hideaway where she planned to spend days in solitude until her mind stopped reeling.    Making the necessary phone calls to her parents and her boss, Norah threw her bag in the trunk and she was gone.   She didn’t mention that she may never come back.   

Click HERE for Part Two