The Dream Ignited

​After a long day at work and a stop at the boutique, she was ready to go home, shed her clothes, and soak in the jacuzzi with a glass of red wine. As she lay back in the warm water, she sighed while the jet streams massaged her tired body. Closing her eyes, the life she had known for the last 16 years flashed in her mind.

She was a beautiful woman often secretly envied by people who knew her. ...
Friends would always say, “Girl, you have it all! A fine and successful husband, a great career, a beautiful home, and the money to do what you want, when you want.”

Yes, she thought as she watched the flame on the candle dance in the moonlight. I have it all. The year had flown by so fast and here it was -time for the holidays. She sighed again as she thought about all the planning for parties that they were hosting. “Yes, I have it all; but, what do I really have?"

She was tired, not just from a long day of work, but tired of living behind the mask. Tired of pretending to be a loving couple when the smell of perfume was on him more times than she could count. Tired of the envious looks and remarks from people who thought they knew her life; tired of checking her soul at the door everyday to go into a job that she hated. Tired of drowning in debt for things that did nothing for her. She had sacrificed her soul...

She remembered how ambitious she was when she left college. Her dream was to be an anthropologist and do research in foreign lands – Egypt, Africa, Greece…

Now she was dying inside and it was a cold, lonely feeling. She didn’t know who she was and felt a numbness engulfing her heart. She lifted her eyes and saw his silhouette in the doorway. He made no move, but his eyes bore through every inch of her body as a smirk slowly formed at the corner of his lips.
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When she met his gaze, she felt a searing heat in the core of her being. The fire of purpose was ignited, and it was at that moment that she made a decision - for her dream...















By Melody Edwards

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