Eireen

 

I ducked as the bowl went flying over my head and shattered into so many pieces crashing to the floor beside me. He always got close enough to create fear, but never too close. He called me that word again and walked out slamming the door behind him.

Tears welled in my eyes and my stomach knotted up. I was shaking with rage. I didn't know what to do anymore. My phone was ringing with more collector calls. I didn't answer. I couldn't deal with them right now. What could I arrange when I couldn't pay them?

I looked at my work laptop and I thought of the project that I was having difficulty completing. I felt stupid and I wasn't sure that I could figure it out by the approaching deadline. I felt worse and worse. It seemed that everywhere that I turned for solace just ended up being another place where I could not find relief.

I went to the window and I placed my fingers on the cold glass. Looking outside would sometimes make me feel more peaceful. The snow had just fallen and the snow crystals glittered in the evening light. In the window, I saw a woman walking towards the house. She was holding a baby and had two women beside her. She was wearing a long white gown and her silky dark hair was elaborately braided. She had dark eyes and she looked at me. It felt like she was staring right through me. She was not wearing a coat and I worried that she was cold.

I called her and my fingers went through the glass as it was liquefied. I walked through the liquid and found myself on the other side. The world around me was silent. The broken bowl was no longer on the floor. The phone was no longer ringing. My laptop was no longer on the desk. The room seemed cleaner. The house smelled like my favorite scent of cinnamon.

My heartbeat slowed and my stomach no longer was in knots. The tears in my eyes had dried. As I stood in the room a feeling of peace washed over me. I smiled. I wished that this was all real. I could not imagine a life filled with this kind of peace. I heard a whisper in my ear "create peace". I closed my eyes.

I was back in my room as it was. I swept up up the broken bowl and tossed it into the garbage. I called back one of the collectors and made a payment arrangement. They were willing to work with me. I sat down to work on my project and I was able to think more clearly than I had in weeks. I made a cup of cinnamon tea and I sat quietly, waiting for his return. He walked in with a scowl on his face. "We need to talk," I said.

The next year, I put on my white dress and I gathered the olive branches into a wreath. I hung the wreath on my door and I whispered: "thank you". I watched as the trio approached my window again. The dark-haired woman looked at me and winked as she passed by my house with her companions.