The tone in her voice was intense as she glared out into the nothingness of a picture in her office. The man on the phone was questioning her integrity and she was not going to have it. She was once nominated for a Pulitzer for chrissake, who was he to challenge whether she asked for gluten free or not? Upset with the poor effects of her complaining she hung up the phone defiantly.
She was working on something, but she couldn't tell you where she was at in it. It was supposed to be a story of a study on women's life habits and what it means as they age. Right now it was just a pile of upcoming issues she would have to deal with in her personal life as well as her private one. This story didn't bite, it was her idea and she pushed it to her editors it just lacked any traction with her after a while. She had worked for this online publication since the beginning and this was the first time something like this had happened.
Her Editor noticed all of the delays and the frustration and called her into her office. Lori was going to take a little time off, no buts about it.
The next few weeks were supposed to be uncommonly warm and she was willing to accept she was in a funk of some kind. This professional career that seemed to have a life of it's own had left her little time to have much of her own life. She should be at the beach was the first thing that popped into her head. She had a few friends and she felt the need to reconnect with them, she was thinking about it and it had been months since she had heard from most of them. She knew why, she was always at work.
For the next three days she sat on the couch and watched TV, well not really watching but rather using it as a substitute for a brain pattern. She was overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time and after checking her e-mail and Facebook for the umpteenth time, something snapped. Unplug, undo, un-city, un-plastic. If she was going to be this hollow right now, might as well take it all the way down to the nub.
She called her old boyfriend Mike, who was a wonderful guy and it could have worked in another life. Politics and her career being the deciding factors, they still remained good friends. He had brought her out to the woods one weekend while they were together. It was a little very rustic cabin in the woods and if she remembers right it was his Uncle's place. Mike had moved on and had met and married a wonderful woman named Lynne and suggested that Lori come over for dinner that evening. Looking at her Cheeto stained sweatshirt she decided to just do it.
Lynne and Lori were no strangers by this time, she was like her husbands buddy coming over. Mike had talked to his uncle Bud and found out the cabin was clear and ready to go. Hunting season didn't start for a while and at this time of year there shouldn't be too many folks around at all. When Bud found out who wanted to use it he chuckled, remembering hearing about her first stay. Mike got the key from the garage, it was tied to an old fishing buoy with a big monkey knot and on a little chain was this little key. Bud always said don't lose it, he couldn't replace it! with a wink...
Lynne had made Fettuccine Alfredo since it was easy and one of Lori's favorites. They hadn't seen her for months and were beginning to wonder. The garlic bread was out of this world Lori was thinking as she filled in the small talk and catch up stuff over dinner. She was telling them about the latest piece that she had popped up with and how after reading and interviewing all of these women, she was burned out. The assignment should have been easy, but when these women shared things about how life is as what it means to them... All of those good questions she asked got answers that just blew her away, both good and bad. She felt like a balloon being pumped up and down by the word, by the moment and by the story. bleh...
Mike heard about every third word of this and was watching the face of his wife just stare in rapt attention. She wasn't even eating actually and he was kind of cracking up a bit wondering how long between bites he could rib her about. He felt for Lori, but that had been an issue with them to begin with, she did it her way and all the way. She was an alpha go-getter business wise and that meant second place for everything else. It was her passion though and he respected that immensely. Tonight though he felt more like a third wheel as Lynne and Lori talked after dinner. It was fine though, it was good to see her again, they both were concerned about her lately.
As she packed up the basic essentials she was constantly reminded that there would be no outlets, no no running water. She would bring her phone, but she would take the battery out of it and put it in the glove box. Mike and Lynne both rolled their eyes wide when she told them of her plan. They knew she could take care of herself, just not so much about the unplugged part, she was addicted for sure....
A stop at Walmart for some camping "stuff" she had listed out and some food, maybe she would try those fancy freeze dried foil pouches they had.
She was ready to go and had some trepidation's at the same time. She cranked up the stereo tried to get in the right mood. The first thing she noticed was that every stop light she looked for her phone and felt naked, unattached and out of the loop. Whew! this is going to take more than I thought as she sang out of tune to Taylor Swift's latest break up song. Hitting the highway she changed the station to some kind of Jazz and it helped though she had to remind herself that this was not the time to practice meditation.
It was a "town" in the sense that there was some sort of community feeling about it. The fact that there was four buildings on four corners was not lost on many. The size would be comparable to a mid sized city, but the population was about three dozen to be honest. It had a one pump gas station/post office. A market with a tavern attached or vice versa. A small church with a few smaller outbuildings that double as school portables. On the last corner was Beau's General Store/ Justice of the Peace/ Mayors office/ Police Department and barber/beauty shop. Lori just gasped at the sheer 1971 of it all. It was a tiny mountain...town? but this was kind of creepy in a time warp kind of sense. Seeing a few satellite dishes on rooftops and whatnot she was at least assured she was in the right decade. Double Creek road she repeated again and again, having turned off the navigation system to truly be unplugged as possible. Passing a small farm just outside of "downtown" she slowed to marvel at the chainsaw carvings being offered near the roadside. Deciding not to ask for directions she drove on slow enough to catch the few and far between road signs.
She was working on something, but she couldn't tell you where she was at in it. It was supposed to be a story of a study on women's life habits and what it means as they age. Right now it was just a pile of upcoming issues she would have to deal with in her personal life as well as her private one. This story didn't bite, it was her idea and she pushed it to her editors it just lacked any traction with her after a while. She had worked for this online publication since the beginning and this was the first time something like this had happened.
Her Editor noticed all of the delays and the frustration and called her into her office. Lori was going to take a little time off, no buts about it.
The next few weeks were supposed to be uncommonly warm and she was willing to accept she was in a funk of some kind. This professional career that seemed to have a life of it's own had left her little time to have much of her own life. She should be at the beach was the first thing that popped into her head. She had a few friends and she felt the need to reconnect with them, she was thinking about it and it had been months since she had heard from most of them. She knew why, she was always at work.
For the next three days she sat on the couch and watched TV, well not really watching but rather using it as a substitute for a brain pattern. She was overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time and after checking her e-mail and Facebook for the umpteenth time, something snapped. Unplug, undo, un-city, un-plastic. If she was going to be this hollow right now, might as well take it all the way down to the nub.
She called her old boyfriend Mike, who was a wonderful guy and it could have worked in another life. Politics and her career being the deciding factors, they still remained good friends. He had brought her out to the woods one weekend while they were together. It was a little very rustic cabin in the woods and if she remembers right it was his Uncle's place. Mike had moved on and had met and married a wonderful woman named Lynne and suggested that Lori come over for dinner that evening. Looking at her Cheeto stained sweatshirt she decided to just do it.
Lynne and Lori were no strangers by this time, she was like her husbands buddy coming over. Mike had talked to his uncle Bud and found out the cabin was clear and ready to go. Hunting season didn't start for a while and at this time of year there shouldn't be too many folks around at all. When Bud found out who wanted to use it he chuckled, remembering hearing about her first stay. Mike got the key from the garage, it was tied to an old fishing buoy with a big monkey knot and on a little chain was this little key. Bud always said don't lose it, he couldn't replace it! with a wink...
Lynne had made Fettuccine Alfredo since it was easy and one of Lori's favorites. They hadn't seen her for months and were beginning to wonder. The garlic bread was out of this world Lori was thinking as she filled in the small talk and catch up stuff over dinner. She was telling them about the latest piece that she had popped up with and how after reading and interviewing all of these women, she was burned out. The assignment should have been easy, but when these women shared things about how life is as what it means to them... All of those good questions she asked got answers that just blew her away, both good and bad. She felt like a balloon being pumped up and down by the word, by the moment and by the story. bleh...
Mike heard about every third word of this and was watching the face of his wife just stare in rapt attention. She wasn't even eating actually and he was kind of cracking up a bit wondering how long between bites he could rib her about. He felt for Lori, but that had been an issue with them to begin with, she did it her way and all the way. She was an alpha go-getter business wise and that meant second place for everything else. It was her passion though and he respected that immensely. Tonight though he felt more like a third wheel as Lynne and Lori talked after dinner. It was fine though, it was good to see her again, they both were concerned about her lately.
As she packed up the basic essentials she was constantly reminded that there would be no outlets, no no running water. She would bring her phone, but she would take the battery out of it and put it in the glove box. Mike and Lynne both rolled their eyes wide when she told them of her plan. They knew she could take care of herself, just not so much about the unplugged part, she was addicted for sure....
A stop at Walmart for some camping "stuff" she had listed out and some food, maybe she would try those fancy freeze dried foil pouches they had.
She was ready to go and had some trepidation's at the same time. She cranked up the stereo tried to get in the right mood. The first thing she noticed was that every stop light she looked for her phone and felt naked, unattached and out of the loop. Whew! this is going to take more than I thought as she sang out of tune to Taylor Swift's latest break up song. Hitting the highway she changed the station to some kind of Jazz and it helped though she had to remind herself that this was not the time to practice meditation.
It was a "town" in the sense that there was some sort of community feeling about it. The fact that there was four buildings on four corners was not lost on many. The size would be comparable to a mid sized city, but the population was about three dozen to be honest. It had a one pump gas station/post office. A market with a tavern attached or vice versa. A small church with a few smaller outbuildings that double as school portables. On the last corner was Beau's General Store/ Justice of the Peace/ Mayors office/ Police Department and barber/beauty shop. Lori just gasped at the sheer 1971 of it all. It was a tiny mountain...town? but this was kind of creepy in a time warp kind of sense. Seeing a few satellite dishes on rooftops and whatnot she was at least assured she was in the right decade. Double Creek road she repeated again and again, having turned off the navigation system to truly be unplugged as possible. Passing a small farm just outside of "downtown" she slowed to marvel at the chainsaw carvings being offered near the roadside. Deciding not to ask for directions she drove on slow enough to catch the few and far between road signs.
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