Free The Fourteen Day Soul Detox, Volume Two by Rita Stradling

say our goodbyes to
everyone.” We hugged everyone, including Amy and Peter, who had
gratefully accepted Patrick’s invitation to stay longer.
    Even though Susan, Beza and Aiden
walked out with us, Patrick, Carrie and Kay insisted walking us to
our cars.
    “Let’s do this again,”
Carrie said as I rolled down my car window to say one last goodbye.
    “Definitely,” I said.
    As I started to drive away, I read the
word, “Definitely,” on Patrick’s lips as he watched
us pull away.
    “When we get home, you have to
take a quick shower then straight to bed,” I told Sarah. When I
got no response, I asked again, “Did you hear about bed time?”
    Glancing in the rearview mirror, I
found Sarah fast asleep.
    As we turned east, back toward town and
home, the gibbous moon rose over the Transverse Mountain Ranges. Only
one of her eyes was visible tonight, as if perhaps the moon was
looking elsewhere.
    My hands shook as I drove the final
stretch to our apartment. I circled through the whole parking lot,
examining every guest parking. I exited the parking lot, and drove up
and down the street. Finally, I turned back into the parking lot and
circled the parking lot again. I ended at Clarke’s assigned
spot. It was empty. Sighing, I drove up and parked in my assigned
spot.
    I quickly climbed out of my car, and
opened Sarah’s door. Unbuckling her from her seatbelt, I picked
her up as gently as I could.
    Sarah mumbled, but settled her head on
my shoulder.
    I locked my car with the remote, but
threaded my keys through the fingers of my free hand, making a fist
around them. I peeked around the wall. The street light failed in its
reach, leaving the entire area leading up to my apartment dark.
    I looked back toward my car, taking a
step in that direction. I held my breath as headlights approached and
a car parked in the spot next to mine.
    I exhaled in relief as my neighbor
Sammy and her boyfriend got out of her car.
    They climbed out, carrying wetsuits in
their arms, and were turning to walk in the opposite direction when I
said, “Sammy?”
    “Hey Jamie, everything okay?”
she asked as she turned around. They both blinked over at me with
bloodshot eyes.
    “Kind of. Would you guys mind
walking me to my door? I forgot to leave my porch light on and it’s
pitch black.” I said, lowering my voice when Sarah groaned on
my shoulder.
    “Yeah, no problem,” Sammy’s
boyfriend said.
    “Yeah, of course, Jamie,”
Sammy echoed. They changed their direction, walking with me toward
the back of the parking lot.
    “You two just come back from
surfing?” I whispered.
    “Yeah,” Sammy said in a
hushed vice.
    “How was it?” I asked.
    “Beautiful weather but not many
waves to catch. It was nice to be on the beach all day though,”
Sammy said.
    “Really nice,” her
boyfriend echoed.
    They waited for me to unlock my door,
and I turned the porch light on for them once I was inside.
    “Thank you guys so much,” I
whispered out the door.
    “Anytime, Jamie, nice to see
you,” Sammy whispered back.
    Once inside, I double locked the door
before going to lay Sarah down in her bed. I tucked her in and kissed
her forehead. Before leaving her room, I checked all her windows to
see if they were locked.
    I checked every window and place large
enough to hide in the house.
    When I’d checked the house
thoroughly, I whispered to myself, “Oh, my god, Jamie, you are
acting like a crazy person.” But still, I checked the house one
final time before going to sleep.

Day
Three
    Downward
Facing Dog

Day
Three: Seven O’clock

    I woke with Sarah’s cheek
smashing into mine. “Space, I need space,” I said in a
muffled voice.
    “Good morning, angel!”
Sarah shouted as she bounced off me, and stood up to jump on the bed.
    “No,” I whispered, “stop
doing that. Oh my god, you have so much energy,” I grumbled. I
made my way to the kitchen in a blurry haze.
    I stared at the empty carafe of coffee.
“I hate you, Susan,” I whispered