Over the great savannah

"Just look at that sky. This is the most beautiful land on the earth."

The two sat out in front of their old farmhouse in side-by-side chairs just the way they had at the end of each day for most of the last ten years. It was a hot, late summer day, and the sun was lazy in setting.

"I wish I could glide over the wide open grass and see where are those antelope are running. I wish...."

Melinda had heard this so many times that she quickly tuned it out and turned her thoughts her own wishes.

"I wish we could pay off our mortgage," she murmured. "Then I wish we'd get out of this god forsaken place and move somewhere that resembled civilization."

"...and then I'd fly over toward the mountains and see if I could spot a big cat," he continued, not hearing her. His dream of being able to glide over the big grassy plains took him away from any concerns of mortgages or other unhappinesses.

And so their conversations went. After the sun went down, Joe went out to his workshop in the barn to tinker around with his toys while Melinda did the dishes and listened to news from the outside world. Just like always.

Except that tonight, there was a break in the monotonous pattern. When Joe came in to go to bed, Melinda was still up, instead of already in bed as she normally would be by this time.

"Joe, I need to tell you something," she said in a tone that signaled that it wasn't something he'd want to hear. "I've made a decision. I'm leaving."

Joe looked at her blankly.

"I'm leaving," she said again.

"Now? Where are you going?" he said obtusely.

"I mean I'm leaving the farm. I'm leaving you." In her frustration, she began to pick up steam. "I can't stand it anymore. We are getting further and further behind in our payments, and I just can't cope anymore. I want more from my life. I want..."

"Well, sweetheart, we can fix all this. I'm getting really close on the new thing I'm working on, and besides how could you leave this beautiful land? I mean we're so happy here. This is what we've always wanted."

"No, Joe. It's what you've always wanted. You don't even know what I've always wanted. And let me tell you, it's not this."

They went back and forth for a while, neither really listening to the other. It was late, and they were both tired. Going to bed, Joe thought that things would be different in the morning. Melinda felt resolved and glad to be on the path to something different.

In the morning, Joe sat down to breakfast, like most mornings mentally working through the details of the project that awaited him in his workshop. Knowing that he wouldn't bring up last night's conversation, Melinda didn't mention it either. But after he went out to work, she began making arrangements. She packed a few boxes of things she wanted to take, but chose to leave most of it behind. It wouldn't serve her in the city anyway.

That night, she made another go of trying to get Joe to acknowledge the situation.

"I'm leaving Friday, Joe. I'm taking the truck. You can have everything else."

"What do you mean, Melinda? Where are you going?" He sounded like a lost little boy. "I want you to see what I'm working on. It should be done by next week at the latest. It's really getting close."

"Joe, I am not staying. I am not waiting. I am not humoring your ridiculous ideas any more."

She went to the bedroom and slammed the door. He went to his workshop and stayed there into the wee hours of the morning, consumed with his work.

On Friday, she made breakfast. He went to his workshop. Just like always.

In the late afternoon when the air started to cool a bit, she packed her boxes into the back of the truck and prepared to leave. She went out to the workshop door and called out, "I'm leaving, Joe."

There was no answer.

She got into the truck and turned the key. She sat there for several minutes, looking in the rearview mirror hopefully. Nothing. She slowly put her foot on the gas and eased out toward the front gate, where she had to get out of the truck twice, once to open the gate and again to close it. Each time she watched in the rearview mirror for any movement. There was none.

Then as she slowly drove out the dirt road, she glanced in the mirror again and saw something.

From the area just outside the workshop doors, she saw something lifting off the ground. The clumsy flying machine levitated about 20 feet above the ground and then with its' sole occupant pedaling like mad, it headed west toward the mountains.

Melinda shook her head, pressed down the accelerator, and headed east toward the city.
------------------
841 words