Alone, Unexpectedly

On Tuesdays, my husband picks up our son and they go off to the archery range to shoot. It’s a whole thing. I enjoy being able to wrap up my day without rushing off on the school run, maybe even getting some work done, followed by an uninterrupted stretch of audiobook listening. We usually all get home at about the same time.

Today, though, I left school shortly after the busses full of middle schoolers had departed. I think I had had enough. I worked for two hours before my “four hour day” started and I was coming up on four and a half hours at school. Close enough to full time, especially for a half-time employee. So I just packed everything up and went home at the end of the day, like a normal person.

Traffic was surprisingly light on the way home, a result of both the fact that I had left work just after 4pm and the fact that the time change meant we were not on the cusp of darkness. I got home more quickly than I expected.

I was home first. All alone. Unexpectedly. I listened to the final three minutes of my audiobook in the car, then gathered my million teacher bags and went inside.

One cat was yelling at me from the catio. By the time I made it down the driveway, she had teleported to the front door and was trying to escape. I shooed the furry swirls away from the door, checked that everybody was on the right side of it, and started putting things away.

Empty the lunchbox.

Put the work computer on the desk.

Fish the iPad and the novel and the personal computer from the bag and put them in the bedroom.

Add the ungraded papers to the stack.

Hang up the coat.

Turn up the heat.

Plug in the teapot.

Feed the cats.

Kick off the shoes.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh…

In glorious quiet, I climbed under the covers, slid down and pulled them up to my ears, stretched my arms and legs, and relaxed for what felt like the first time today. I watched the cats darting in and out of the window and listened to them chasing up and down their enclosed balcony.

I sighed,

closed my eyes,

and took

a

nap.