Fly Away

A dark summer afternoon stood outside as a woman was strolling beside the main street. The neighborhood was calm as everyone was sitting in their homes after picking up their kids from school. Suddenly her phone rang as she was walking near a well-lit small house.

“Hello?” – she asked.

“Margaret?”

“Yes?”

“Come by. It’s urgent.”

Stumbling towards the tree she grasped it.

“It happened?!” – Margaret queried.

A moment of silence arose after which a short answer followed:

“Yes.”

The call ended. She put the phone in her pocket immediately and took off running.

…

A chair on the porch was squeaking as Charlie was smoking in it with his glasses on. They were quite exquisite with blue outline, definitely expensive. Midnight hit: only a couple of people were walking in the streets and Margaret was one of them as she neared the stairs of the house and stood there.

“Why are sitting here?! Show me!” – Margaret screamed running up the stairs.

He took his time making her wait in silence and said:

“Are you sure, Margo?”

“What are you talking about?! Of course I am!”– she stated immediately letting it be known.

Someone’s voice could be clearly heard from a distance:

“Hey! Keep it down, asshole!”

“Let’s go inside and discuss it, ok? No need to scream outside.” – Charlie said.

The theater was full of people who were all looking at personas sitting at the table on stage. A young woman walked up to the microphone; it was her turn to ask a question.

“Good day, Margaret. My name is Anny and I want to ask a question about how you go about dealing with what you endured in the past?” – she paused, and Margaret saw her hands shaking.

“It’s ok, Anny. Take your time, don’t worry.” – she said.

“Umm, thank you.” – Anny said with a big smile on her slightly chubby face and proceeded. – “I’m really nervous. Do you ever think about what had happened?”

Silence arose in the room as Anny’s voice stopped echoing in the theater. Even people at the very end got silent and were waiting for an answer.

“That’s a good question. What I’m going to say is very cliché, but bear with me.” – a slight laugh went around the room and disappeared as she continued. – “Yes, of course I think about that, I think about all of it. But…” – she massaged her eye and proceeded. – “You must live on and inspire people by telling them the truth. Even if they capture me, I’m fine with it.”

People’s faces in the room changed – it got serious and almost prophetic. Suddenly, the woman sitting to Margaret’s left in the costume spoke out:

“That’s it for today, guys. Thank you for your questions.”

Margaret glanced at her with a very serious face and looking back at stage said:

“Thank you, guys. Love you all.”

The whole audience stood up and were clapping, chanting at the same time:

“MARGO! MARGO! MARGO!”

Halfway leaving the stage, she turned around and looked at everyone in the audience –filled with joy and gratitude, they were clapping, every each one of them; a slight smile appeared on her face.

“Come on, we got to go!” – the woman in a costume said with a very commanding voice and Margaret felt a hand on her shoulder. The stage got empty, but the clapping proceeded, even got a little louder.