2016 – Day 43

Start writing a story that...

Step 1: begins with this sentence: She didn't know how to explain that...

Step 2: add this word: art

Step 3: add a character who: looks out the window
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She didn't know how to explain that she was ready to move out, so Molly gradually removed items from the apartment she shared with Nathan. One by one, day by day, she took books, dishes, toiletries, shoes, and clothes until she was certain he would notice and say something. She hated conflict and confrontation and wanted desperately to avoid it.

She already had a new apartment on 7th Street that she had sublet from a coworker. Jennifer was an artist and had been using the apartment as an art studio when she decided she could use the rent money instead. Molly agreed to let Jennifer continue to store her paintings in the apartment in exchange for free utilities. The canvases were all five-feet-tall and featured people painted to look like office supplies as a statement on modern professional life. Molly wasn't sure that she liked them, but she was getting used to waking up to a woman in a black suit painted as a stapler as she stretched down to touch her toes.

On Thursday, five weeks after she had begun to steadily move her things to the new apartment, Molly was nearly done. She decided to come back one last time to double-check that she hadn't forgotten anything and perhaps to say goodbye to Nathan. As she opened and closed each kitchen cabinet door to inspect the insides, Nathan walked in. He came into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and give Molly a peck on the cheek, then left for the living room. Molly took a deep breath and followed him.

As Nathan sat down on the couch and began to read something on his phone, Molly approached the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the river and looked outside. The water was choppy from the wind but the sky was a clear blue. Beyond the river was her new apartment, filled with her things and waiting for her.

"I'm going to get going," Molly said.

"Okay" Nathan said, still staring at his phone. "When are you back?"

"I, um..." The words caught in Molly's throat. She moved toward the doorway and leaned against the doorframe. "Not sure."

"Oh. Where are you going?" Nathan looked up from the phone and watched her in the doorway.

"It's complicated," she said.