Packing up the past

Write a piece – 600 word limit – about finding a forgotten item of clothing in the back of a drawer or closet. Let us know how the item was found, what it is, and why it’s so meaningful to you or your character.

Moving day had come and Becca had mixed feeling about it. She knew that she had to move on with her life and see what was out there beyond the small town that she had grown up in.

The big city was waiting as were the moving men, so Becca had to kick it into high gear or else she’d never get the rest of her things packed up.

She did a final walk through her small apartment starting with the kitchen. Looking out through the window over the sink, as the warm breeze blew through the window she wondered if she’d miss this place. Yea, it was home but things had changed in the past 6 months and it was hard to still think of it as home anymore.

Once she was sure that the everything was carefully packed she moved into the bedroom. She knew that this room would be the hardest and that was why she left if for last.

Becca made her way to the bedroom and stood in the door way looking at the french doors that led outside, the empty bed, the beautiful lamp that she bought from the flea market, and the closet that never seemed big enough for everything.

She hesitated for longer than she would have liked but she her emotions were getting the best of her and she felt like her breath was caught and she couldn’t get enough air. She closed her eyes and willed her body to breath deeply as she calmed herself. She opened her eyes and took that first step into their bedroom.

Her sister had packed up most of her things a while back, but there was still some stuff left that had to be taken care of and she headed for the closet first.

She pulled the old doors open and as usual the right door stuck. She laughed to herself a bit as she yanked on the door to get it to open, he had planned to fix that but it never happened. After another moment or two of pulling on the door it gave way and she was somewhat surprised… there wasn’t as much left there as she thought.

There were some odd hangers, a pair of her sandals that she thought she’d misplaced, and several boxes. Ignoring the hangers as she grabbed her sandals to set them aside to take with her later, Becca decided to pull out all of the boxes and and go through them now instead of taking them with her when she moved.

Box after box, Becca sorted a lifetime of memories that she shared with her husband and managed to get through everything without breaking down.

Becca sighed a breath of relief when she finally made it to the last box. It seemed like she had been there forever as she looked out at the sun leaving streaks of colors across the sky as it set.

The last box was full of things that she had not seen in years and it brought a smile to her face as the tears threatened to fall. She pulled out the t shirts that she had carefully wrapped up so many years ago.

The his and her shirts that they made for their rehearsal dinner looked exactly as she remembered. The shirts were special to her because they represented the beginning of their lives together which some thought was odd that she didn’t think of her dress that way.

It was a great night that led to the most amazing weekend and life.