Leave a Light On - A Story in Under 1000 Words
He drove down the highway, and although it was night time, the lights from the other vehicles on the road lit up everything. The red taillights of the vehicles travelling in the same direction and the white headlights of those coming the other way. The streetlights and the way his own headlights illuminated the signs and the lane markers. He was heading home, and although he was well aware of how fast he was going he couldn’t slow down. He was going home to see her.
It had been two weeks of working out of town and with each rotation of his tires, his desperation to be back with her grew. Oh, how he had missed the sight of her. He missed the way she smelled and the way that he would lean in to hug her and just nuzzle against her neck and bathe in her scent. These were trying times. The pressure on their relationship was building with every time he was away, although they both knew this was just how things were going to be.
He had the radio on even though his hatred of commercial radio was no secret. He just needed some company. The droning of the DJ and the banality of the music coming from the speakers was actually a comfort at this point. It allowed him to just drift off on auto-pilot and watch the miles pass him by. They weren’t passing fast enough, but he could only go so fast.
A song came on that he knew and liked despite himself. One of those guilty pleasures that he found himself singing along to but would immediately stop if anyone entered the room. The song was “Moving On” by James. Even though he was only a few hours away, he decided to call her. He had to hear her voice.
“Hi, babe”. Hearing her call him by a pet name like “babe”, or “baby” always made him feel so warm inside.
“Hi, love”.
“How’s the drive?”
“It’s fine. Taking too long though. I’m still about three hours away”.
“Ok. Don’t drive too fast”. She knew him well.
“Baby, can you listen to something for a second?”
“Sure.” She sounded kind of perplexed, and who could blame her?
He turned his phone toward the speaker and turned up the radio just as the chorus of the song came on.
I'm on my way,
Soon be moving on my way
Leave a little light on
He always played that song as we was heading away from her. Hoping that she would leave a light on for him in both the literal and figurative sense. He was deathly afraid that while he was gone, the light would go out. He turned the phone away from the speaker and turned the volume on the radio down. There was silence on the other end.
“I’ll be home soon baby. Leave a light on for me.”
She was silent for a moment. She also knew the strain that distance was having on their relationship. She knew the implication on the song that he had just played for her.
“I love you baby. Please drive safe.”
“I love you too. See you soon.”
He drove on for those few hours that seemed like days. Each time he saw her it was like Christmas morning as a child and getting the most wanted gift on your wish list. She was awe-inspiring. Look up beautiful in the dictionary and it would be a whole page dedicated to her.
It was half-past one in the morning when he finally pulled into the driveway. The lights in the house were off for the most part, as was to be expected at that hour. He smiled as he saw that the porch light was indeed on. He was weary from the long drive and from the long time that he was away missing her. He grabbed his bags from the trunk and headed inside. He opened the door, trying to not make too much noise in case she was asleep. His suitcase banged against the door as he pushed his way into the house and he muttered a curse at his own clumsiness.
At the top of the stairs that led from the front door landing area to the living room, there she was. She was standing there waiting for him, wearing a tank top and pyjama shorts that she always wore to bed. She smiled down at him. He dropped his bags and rushed up the stairs and embraced her. He held her so tight that he thought for a moment that he might be hurting her. He nuzzled against her neck and inhaled that sweet scent. The only difference this time was that her neck was damp. It was from the tears running down his cheeks and onto her.
After awhile he pulled away from the hug to look at her. She reached up and used her hand to brush the tears off his face. They looked at each other for a few moments until he composed himself enough to say a few words.
“I love you baby.”.
“I love you too.”.
