The past six months had been brutal. Carolyn lost her parents and her grandmother to the virus. She was laid off from her job when her employer closed its doors due to the pandemic. And she just got the results back from her own COVID-19 test and it was positive. Her life, she felt, had hit a metaphysical wall.
As she stared out at the glistening water, she thought about her options. One would be to slowly walk into the surf and literally drown her troubles. Having lost almost everything of meaning in her life, she felt there was nothing left to lose, and nothing left to live for.
On the other hand, she could turn around and give herself a clean break from the past and start her life anew. She was young and, aside from testing positive for the virus, she was healthy. It wasn’t necessarily a death sentence as it had been for her parents and grandmother.
Carolyn was at the crossroads between an end and a new beginning. She looked, once again toward the sea. Then back behind her toward the dry land. It was time for her to decide, and with her usual resolve, she made her choice. She chose her option. And she walked slowly in that direction.
Written for Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo Prompt and for Di’s Three Things Challenge (been, wall, clean). Photo credit: Sue Vincent.