Flash Fiction Entry 2.27

    She could see the midnight sky from her office window.  People were still buzzing around in the bright city below. She was amazed at how enslaved she had become by her work.  With these economic hardships, she had to work even harder to be treated as an asset to her company.  She hoped that someone would recognize the sacrifices she had made over the years—putting off marriage, a family of 3, a two-story home on the east coast.  As of right now, keeping her financial status was all that really mattered to her.
    She came from a family of limited means.  It had just been her, her mom, and baby sister ever since she could remember.  Her alcoholic father was arrested after he set fire to their home one night in a drunken rage.  At the tender age of ten, she became responsible for caring for her younger sister while her mother waited tables during the day and bartended at night.  She knew that she would be different.  She had to be different.  She would be the one to make something of herself.
    She worked hard in high school, graduated with a 4.3 G.P.A on a 4.0 scale, received a scholarship to Columbia University, and went on to pursue a career in international business.  And now, she had it all…or so it appeared.
She continued to stare at the sky and wondered if it was all worth it.  She always said she never wanted to be tied down by the conventional life, but now, having that life didn’t seem all that bad.
    Should I have said “yes?” she thought.  She gazed down at her empty finger and wondered if she made a mistake.
    “I really shouldn’t think about such things at this hour…” she sighed.