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Post by Bradley Young on Aug 25, 2015 0:51:53 GMT -6
Brad let out a low exhale of breath as he straightened the last of the family photos on the wall in the living room. He took a step back and studied the angles of the picture frames to ensure they were straight and even. A look of pure concentration had settled over his features, a rarity since he'd left the NYPD. Carefully he reached out and nudged one, a picture taken at a police award ceremony, so it was in line with the others that framed it. He stood in the photo, proudly clad in his NYPD dress uniform with Beth in a modestly elegant light blue dress at his side. One arm was around his wife's while the other held up a shy-looking, dirty blonde girl no older than five years old with the framed medals of her father's grasped in her tiny hands.
Slowly Brad turned away from the wall. He'd been busy while Beth had been gone at work. The moment she'd left in the morning Brad had pushed himself onward. Even though they'd lived in Montana for months now they still had yet to fully unpack. This was mostly attributed to Brad's overall reluctance, though the couple had been busy and distracted at times. The few stacks of boxes that remained in the corner and closet of their spare bedroom had succeeded in making all this feel temporary. As if it wasn't so much a new chapter in life as it was a holding pattern, a limbo of sorts that kept Brad from having to fully admit his previous life was over and there was a new one to embrace and look forward to.
That's where the pictures came into play. Brad knew they were in there, mixed in with the small affectations that he and Beth had sitting around their old house that made it feel like a home, rather than merely a place they were sleeping. It had taken him all day but he'd managed to make it through every last box that had remained. The pictures were the last and took the longest as every single one he pulled from its protective bubble wrap brought about fresh memories, some good, some bad. Of course, that wasn't to say Brad didn't pay the proper attention to the bubble wrap as well. He was only human, after all.
By the time Beth's car pulled into the apartment complex, Brad was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Or, more specifically, he was just finishing transferring everything from the restaurant cartons to various bowls and plates and there was a neat pile of broken down boxes sitting on their outside patio, waiting to be taken out to recycling. When he heard the front door open he took a deep breath and nodded to himself. "Hey." He said, wiping his hands on a towel as he stepped into the living room to greet his wife with a chaste kiss. There was nothing else to say. He could only stand and wait until she undoubtedly would notice the fruits of his labor.
Slowly Brad turned away from the wall. He'd been busy while Beth had been gone at work. The moment she'd left in the morning Brad had pushed himself onward. Even though they'd lived in Montana for months now they still had yet to fully unpack. This was mostly attributed to Brad's overall reluctance, though the couple had been busy and distracted at times. The few stacks of boxes that remained in the corner and closet of their spare bedroom had succeeded in making all this feel temporary. As if it wasn't so much a new chapter in life as it was a holding pattern, a limbo of sorts that kept Brad from having to fully admit his previous life was over and there was a new one to embrace and look forward to.
That's where the pictures came into play. Brad knew they were in there, mixed in with the small affectations that he and Beth had sitting around their old house that made it feel like a home, rather than merely a place they were sleeping. It had taken him all day but he'd managed to make it through every last box that had remained. The pictures were the last and took the longest as every single one he pulled from its protective bubble wrap brought about fresh memories, some good, some bad. Of course, that wasn't to say Brad didn't pay the proper attention to the bubble wrap as well. He was only human, after all.
By the time Beth's car pulled into the apartment complex, Brad was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Or, more specifically, he was just finishing transferring everything from the restaurant cartons to various bowls and plates and there was a neat pile of broken down boxes sitting on their outside patio, waiting to be taken out to recycling. When he heard the front door open he took a deep breath and nodded to himself. "Hey." He said, wiping his hands on a towel as he stepped into the living room to greet his wife with a chaste kiss. There was nothing else to say. He could only stand and wait until she undoubtedly would notice the fruits of his labor.
