Shadows of the Moon, Chapter 13

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A progressive short story from the Akron Writers’ Group, Wordplay. Written Winter, 2017.

Chapter Thirteen: Linda Leasure

Alisha woke from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. She couldn’t control her sobs. The nightmare was still vivid in her mind.

In her dream, she had gambled away $100,000. The money Tessa had given her. The money she had lied about needing.

In her dream, she had even considered harming Tessa to get the life insurance money.

It was bad enough that she had brought shame to herself by borrowing – no, by stealing – money from her employer. It was bad enough that she had lied to Tessa.

The situation was so overwhelming, her fitful sleep had led to the dream of gambling and plotting murder.

Alisha got out of bed and walked to the window. She drew open the blinds and watched the moon dance across the sky. Jupiter was passing, leaving clouds in its wake. Shadows danced across the newly-fallen snow. The light of the moon brought clarity. She was able to see the dream for what it was. Pure irony.

In her dream, she was a big spender wanting “things,” and travel to exotic places. That was so far from who she really was, the hard-working single mom with two girls whom she adored.

Had Ted, who was just the kind of person as she seemed to be in the dream, taken over her mind for the night? Ted was the one with the gambling problem. Ted was the one who lived an extravagant lifestyle until he lost everything over and over again.

She had stolen the money for Ted. He begged her to do it. He had borrowed money from the mob, and they had reached the end of their generosity. Ted’s life had been threatened. If he didn’t pay up, he was a dead man.

She loved Ted, but she finally divorced him to protect herself and her daughters, Trudy and Tina. Why in the world did she allow herself to get pulled back into his madness?

Alisha thought of Tessa, who had, as always, come to her rescue. Suddenly it occurred to her that she had tried to rescue Ted, maybe in an attempt to be more like Tessa.

When she married Ted, she thought he would change. When their second daughter was born, she discovered he was still nursing his addiction. He would never change. She left him to protect her daughters, but even now, she got sucked back in.

Alisha pulled herself together. She replaced her sobs with a determination to take control of her life. She was not going to become Ted. She went to the desk, got her checkbook, put the new check into an envelope, addressed and stamped it. She put on her coat, a scarf, gloves and boots. She walked to the postbox on the corner and deposited the letter. It was done. It could not be undone.

Alisha had no idea that she was going through exactly what Tessa was going through, even though they were miles apart. They both discovered they were strong and good. They looked at the moon simultaneously. They watched the shadows of the moon dance on new-fallen snow.

At almost the same time, both Tessa and Alisha decided to shine the light of their honest selves to the world. The matches were lit; the flames would burn. Some relationships may end, but they were brave enough to take the risk.

Alisha picked up the phone.

Shadows of the Moon

A chapter will be released once a month. The first chapter was released January 5, 2025.

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