
It seemed long to her. The holidays had passed in a blur of heat and waiting. His absence haunted her. In town, she would catch glimpses of someone with a walk like his, and for a moment be certain that he was back. At night, she often dreamed of him, stifling nightmares of non-communication. Two or three times she struggled right out of these dreams and down the stairs to the kitchen, convinced she had heard the telephone ring. The nightmares eventually stopped but her waiting did not stop. She still jumped every time the telephone rang, or when she saw a familiar gray jacket in the street. "Do you know how long he has been gone now?", she asked. "It must be more than five weeks." the other replied. "It has been five weeks, two days and about eleven hours." she confirmed. At the sound of the door bell, she jumped. Something inside her lifted, and then dropped a little too far. As if her heart had unexpectedly missed a step on a stairway. She rushed to the door and dragged it open. She hoped it was him. But, it wasn't.