The Long Road Home

The Long Road Home  (E) Contest Entry #1617473 by Freelandwriter

                         

                                      The Long Road Home



Taylor was a young woman in her late forties discovering that life had taken her on a journey back to the beginning of her carefully planned foolproof life.  Hopes and dreams had for years proven to destroy all possibilities of her “happily ever after” theory, proving to be a cliché, not a reality.



Taylor had no friends, and her school years had proven to be in sync with the rest of her life; lonely and dark, a world of abuse and hopelessness.  As a young child growing up on a family farm in rural Arkansas she always saw things differently, wanting things to fit together as she had believed them to be. Taylor spent most of her time with the teachings of adult women and the wisdom of her parents, giving her a different outlook on life than her peers.



Searching for love and acceptance, she decided to create her own world by finding a husband, having kids, being the perfect wife and mother, and finally finding that longing of self-worth.  Taylor, being isolated from any type of normalcy, fell in love or need with someone who took for granted her sincerity, later finds herself locked up in his need of dependency.



There had been ample opportunity for escape.  In her search for acceptance she had adopted hate for love, and abuse for affection.  After hiding out for two months trying to protect the only form of love she had known, she returned to her own apartment.  It was at this time, that a sequence of events finally lead to the capture of her captive.



One beautiful fall night, Taylor’s hopes and dreams were recaptured.  While sweeping leaves off of her porch Taylor was mesmerized by the soothing whistle of the wind and the radiance of the evening sky that gave way to the silent words of restful peace flowing from an unknown source. As Rowland walked around the corner her heart fluttered with anticipation of hope.  Taylor often watched and admired the kindness and gentleness she had noticed in him.  Very nervously she struck up a conversation, unaware of what was to become a life changing experience, not just for Taylor, but for Rowland as well.



With every stroke of the broom, healing and serenity swept into their hearts, traveling the same road of hurt, loneliness, and the longing to love and be loved.  He began to sweep her off her feet with every breath of tenderness and respect, reminding her of a father’s love – the only love she had truly been able to identify as the way a man should love and care for a woman.



Through a chain of events Rowland lead her in search of that feeling that once had been home in her heart, proving to her that her road home had to be travelled by commute to a distant place. 



As Taylor and Rowland leaned over their balcony in rural Ontario, looking up at the first snowfall of the year, it hit her.  Rowland’s path had sent him to capture love and rebuild their life, now a life together where two hearts would be as one.  Although the road home had been long, Taylor’s cliché was now a reality.     



Word Count=540