What’s A Body To Do?
Tom Gumbert
For the past six months I was looking forward to it, the promise of peace and quiet. So here I am in my cozy confines, simple yet elegant, built to last. Hoping and expecting to enjoy my hard earned rest—but no.
Sure, there was a lot of hullaballoo when I first got here, that was to be expected, what with the well-wishers and teary eyed friends and family obligated to participate in your send off. But after that, my expectation was for peace and quiet. Not a chance.
It started with the first rain, a real gullywasher! I could hear the mud and rocks scraping against my home as things settled around me. For a time I feared I might slide right off the hillside and into the river, but fortunately that did not transpire.
The brochure touted the maintenance crew and upkeep of the grounds and that, my friend, was no exaggeration. Those guys are relentless, dawn to dusk with their mowing and mulching and trimming and digging. A few rows over they’re putting in a new road and talk about noise!
Even before that it was difficult to get a moment’s peace. For one thing, there is the constant traffic. Sure that makes it convenient for loved ones to visit but jeez, what about the residents? Was there no consideration for us? In retrospect I wish I’d picked someplace more rural. Too late now.
Today is Sunday, a day of rest. Ah, but not here. Here it’s a veritable open house with so many people talking and crying, sharing their confessions and loneliness. Of course I listen quietly. What choice do I have? Rest in Peace my ass—I should have been cremated.
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***Tom Gumbert lives near Cincinnati, OH with his wife Andrea (Andy) in a log home overlooking the Ohio River, in an area that was an active part of the Underground Railroad. An Operations Manager by day, he has been writing for over a decade with an eclectic taste in what he reads and writes.
His work has appeared in over a dozen publications in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. He co-authored the anthology, “Nine Lives,” which was published by All Things That Matter Press in March 2014, and he is currently editing his novel. He tweets at: https://twitter.com/TomGumbert ***
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