“I haven’t felt this alive in a decade” Karen thought to herself. The spontaneous evening had provided a rare and powerful feeling that just for these few hours, everything was okay. In fact, okay was a vast understatement. Everything was beautiful. All of the burdensome thoughts she frequently let consume her were merely a faint blip on her radar.
However ,her brief euphoria was coming to a close, and she hated it. The neon green Heineken sign that hung from the ceiling read 1:50 a.m. As she polished off what remained of her vodka soda she looked around the noisy room. What looked to be a birthday or bachelorette party ran to the stage to plead the band for a final request. A small group of businessman slapped each other on the backs in laughter as one insisted the bartender bring them a final round of shots. For the first time all night Karen stood absolutely still in the middle of the slowly dispersing dance floor. Why did good nights have to end? She thought to herself. Why did so many good things in life have to end?
“I just called a cab, are you ready?” Leslie asked. She wasn’t. She wasn’t ready to go, she wasn’t ready for Sunday morning to come, she wasn’t ready for any of the change that was coming her way. Generally change was fine, change was inevitable in life and Karen knew that. Completion however, something finally being over with all together , that was something she still couldn’t grasp. The morning would bring a stark return to the overwhelming reality she found herself in.“Karen? You ready?” Leslie asked again . “One more song” Karen said desperately.
BELLIS 