the street

She can hear the traffic from the road outside her place. She’s set back from the street, but sound carries better, here, than in other places she’s been. Sometimes it’s soothing, comforting. Some nights she falls asleep to the noise. Other times, it reminds her of how alone she is: she imagines everyone passing her place is heading toward someone, while she stays alone. It wasn’t always like this. When she was younger, she had more friends than she could count. Or at least it seemed so. Now, most of her friends are in other places, literally and figuratively. She is tempted to go on the road, again, to start driving and keep driving until she arrives someplace that feels more like home. Problem is, she doesn’t know where home is, anymore. So, she’s decided to make a stand, here, and hope tonight, anyway, that the road lullaby sings her to sleep. She’s learned, better, by now, to take it one night at a time.