Prompt Week Eight: The bluebird of happiness flies over the battlefield and lands on a boot left behind.

                My neck was in a knot and as I pulled my body into a sitting position I realized I couldn’t turn my head. I swung my legs off the side of the pull-out couch I called my bed and rammed my shins into the heavy coffee table. The sudden movement caused my body to jerk and sharp pains ran down my neck and shoulder. The snow was falling outside of the glass doors in front of me, the Rocky mountains barely visible in the sea of white. I sat back down on the pull-out and began to cry for all the things I’d left behind.

                Sitting alone in the living room, my clothes strewn around me on the floor, the fighting and the heartache I’d left didn’t seem so bad. I’d forgotten what half the battles were about and I couldn’t smile anymore, knowing I’d given up everything for nothing.

                I’d wanted to be free, independent so I moved thousands of miles away not realizing it was possible to be strong while leaning on others. I got on a cheap, one-way flight and flew to a place I’d never been; I didn’t even ski.  Without thinking twice I vowed to never look back. I’d fought my last fight; I’d gone out swinging, never held back, and packed my heart for the trip.

                I sobbed and the storm broke. The sun came out and the mountains were covered in a light white blanket of snow. It was 8 am but I felt like it should be eleven and sitting there, I realized I’d never left home even though I now slept in a different time zone.  Searching for clarity, my heart and my happiness couldn’t be found in the mountains because they never made the flight. I’d left them at his house, in a pile of boxes full of shoes and memories and it was time to smile again.