Chapters (38)
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- epilogue
“My, umm, boyfriend, I guess you’d call him. Is this the beginning of your journey or the end?”
“The end.” Violet swallowed the last of her drink and wished desperately for another. “And you?”
“This is my detour. Back to Des Moines for a couple of weeks, then I’ll be here permanently.” The waitress placed Sunshine’s Coke before her and nodded when Violet pointed to her own glass.
“So why are you so sad?”
“I’m not sure it’s any of your business, Sunshine, but I just broke up with my old man.”
“Of course it’s my business. What hurts you hurts me. It hurts all of us.”
“Uh huh. Well, that’s very nice of you, Sunshine.”
“There is power in sharing your story. What’s your name?”
“Violet.”
“No, what’s your real name?”
She laughed despite herself. “It really is Violet.”
“That’s beautiful, man. Like the flower. You should wear some in your hair.”
“I probably should.” Violet accepted her whiskey sour and decided Sunshine could be entertaining for a while. “How long until your flight leaves?”
“I only have about twenty minutes. We’ll have to tell each other everything really fast. Like, I live with six people, including River, in the Haight. River’s my old man. What’s your old man’s name?”
“Chet. He’s not mine anymore, though, remember?”
Sunshine appeared to consider this for a minute. “He will always be yours. He is in you, Violet. Your paths may have separated for a time, but we all come together again in this life. Or the next one.” She nodded sagely. “River says we all drink from the same stream, you know? There is not one drop of water on our planet that is new.”
“Uh huh. I guess that’s true.”
“This sadness will transform you. All sadness does. It will help you understand yourself. Let it guide you.”
“I sure will.” Violet signaled the waitress for her check, draining every ounce of whiskey as she did. She’d escape to another bar nearby. There must be one.
“Violet, are you going home? Is there someone waiting for you? Children?”
“Yes, I’m going home, and no, only me.”
“Then why are you going home? You should explore and learn. You could probably go anywhere. Where would you really like to go?”
It took about three seconds before she heard herself say, “Ireland. I’ve always wanted to travel there.”
Sunshine grinned. “Cool. That’s the airplane you should get on. Right now. Your path is calling you.”
Violet reached her hand to shake Sunshine’s. “It’s been fun talking with you. Thank you. I have to run now.”