The Blessing

It was Monday afternoon when I left the client’s home and walked towards my faded blue pickup carrying three plastic containers, one stacked upon the other, filled with items that enabled me to teach a young child to talk. It was my last session for the day and I was glad to be going home.

After starting the pickup and pushing the stick shift into gear, I looked down and noticed the needle on the gas gauge indicated a quarter of a tank. Not enough to get me home, I thought before driving down the gravel road towards Plummer’s Junction, the only gas station in this deserted part of the county. I turned into the driveway of the run-down station; paint chipped away from half of the building’s 2x4 wooden slats displayed signs of aging, and drove up next to the rusted gas pump. After getting out of the truck and securing the nozzle into the circular metal hole, I felt a light breeze press against my face. Once the pump clicked off, I headed towards the front door.

I walked into the store, strolled over to the cooler, and grabbed a cold Dr. Pepper from the shelf. Walking towards the checkout counter, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crumpled twenty.  The clerk glanced over and smiled, as I laid the green piece of paper on the counter, her long brown hair masked half of her face, as she continued to talk on the telephone.

“What pump,” she whispered not wanting to interrupt her phone conversation.

“Pump three,” I whispered back and then smiled. The clerk looked at me surprisingly and then nodded as she handed back my change. I guess her nod was supposed to symbolize thank you and have a nice day.

Pushing open the glass door, I stepped out onto the parking lot; the heat from the sun felt warm against my skin. Strolling over towards the pickup, the thought of calling my mother reminded me of the task that I had left undone the day before. Then, something unexplainable made me stop. I stood in the parking lot for what seemed to be a brief moment and breathed in the freshness of the country air, and it was in that moment a feeling of peacefulness filled my entire body. I gazed out across the parking lot at the line of trees standing in an orderly fashion; the newly sprouted leaves moved back and forth, swaying with the breeze as if they were waving to me.

It was spring, and I continued to stand there looking out at the Easter grass that devoured the field across the road. My attention was slowly drawn upwards to the harmonic singing of two red birds perched on the telephone wire that was suspended between two wooden poles.

My senses were alive! I listened to the rustling of the leaves.