Edna closed the door. He was finally gone.

At last the room could be cleared and space made to put back those treasured items she had cleared when he came back, all those months ago.

Whilst it would not be the same without him, and of course she was saddened by his departure, there were some positive aspects to her life. Or the life that would now become.

Edna mooched around the house for that first hour, even going up into his bedroom to just see the emptiness. It was a little maudlin for her, but she could not resist it, just that once.

Michael had gone off again on one of his long-term jaunts, she told herself. He had done it before and he would be back.

For a moment she fell into that trap. Then she righted herself and realised that he would not be back this time. At least, he would not be back for a long time. May years maybe.

It was a long way away, she reproached herself and she needed to be realistic. Not only that, but the lure was all the more demanding of him, because of her. She had dragged him half-way across the world to a ‘better place’ for them to be together.

Not that Edna resented Michelle at all. No, that wasn’t the case. She was thrilled for the pair of them, she told herself in a way that seemed rather like she was outside herself, looking into her very being.

“It’s good for those young ones to explore the world and be in a ‘better place’,” she said out loud, begrudgingly.

But she knew she was only fooling herself in that moment. Or rather in that one of many moments since he told her he was going. And, she speculated with a sigh, for many moments coming right up in the whole of her future as she could see it.

Unless.

Maybe this wasn’t the end. Maybe there was more to it than this and for fleeting moments – moments that would be the defining moments for the rest of her life – Edna saw a glimpse of the ‘what might be’.

It was not a shape that she had expected at all. Her expectation was that she would wallow a lot, be miserable and slowly drift into old age and whatever that inevitably brought people like her.

But for a little speck of a moment, she saw a glimmer of possibility.

The truth is, she had been held back by Michael for years; well, all of her life in fact. Michael had come to them rather later in life than they might have anticipated and both were quite middle-aged when he showed up, that bright Spring morning 37 years ago.

Henry had been delighted, of course and Edna and he spent the next 25 years happily watching him grow, mature and become a man in his own right.

Then Henry died, not altogether unexpectedly after the illness, but die he did and left Edna alone in the world. Except for Michael, of course.

In normal circumstances, he would have found someone and left too, but whilst there had been a few flirtations, as Edna regarded them, Michael never seemed that serious about them. So they came and went, until that trip to California on business, and Michelle.

She wasn’t actually from America ironically, but from a sleepy town just a little inland from the East coast of Australia. The warmest, dampest and most unspoilt bit of that gleaming coast.

But Michael was bitten by her and the relationship, albeit a bit of a long-distance one, seemed to flourish over the three years since they met.

So now he had gone. Off to be with her on the other side of the world and at last, Edna was truly alone in the world.

That was that. But for the inkling that had come along to surprise her just a few moments ago.

The house now felt gloomy, oppressive even, so Edna decided that a walk would be the best thing, so she grabbed her coat and set off to walk into the little town.

It was not far.

On the way into town there was a cute little park that whilst it was a bit off the straight line, was an interlude in the tarmac and cobblestones that made up the quint walk.

Edna took a detour.

The Spring day was not unlike that morning when Michael popped into their lives all those years ago, she speculated on this as she walked.

There was no one in the park except for a man and his dog.

Edna never had a dog. She didn’t really like them much, but more to the point, she didn’t like the thought of being tied down, so that she couldn’t do things. The irony being that she didn’t do that much anyway.

The man and the dog came her way and Edna started to wonder if she could make an escape and avoid them altogether, but that would mean walking on the grass, rather than the path and goodness knows what she might step in there.

Slowly but surely, their paths were approaching each others and as so often happens, the dog was the more inquisitive; the less restrained as it ran over to say hello.

It was a cute little dog and very friendly. A sort of little terrier thing, which for a moment, Edna worried about, because she had heard that they could sometimes be a bit fierce. But not this one.

He – she had taken a little look – was very friendly. Not in a jumping up and licky sort of way, but just an interested tail-waggy sort of way.

Edna liked him.

His owner ran up the path, closing the gap whilst calling after the dog.

“Micky, no. Wait.” He sounded a little alarmed and concerned that his dog, Micky apparently, would bother Edna. But he need not have worried at all. Micky and Edna were getting along just fine.

When the man finally caught up with Edna and Micky, he was more than a little out of breath. So it took him a few moments to speak.

“I’m so sorry, he doesn’t usually run off like that,” he explained, “But he’s a good dog and wouldn’t bother anyone much.”

“We’re dong just fine,” said Edna, as she continued to make a fuss of Micky, whi was simply relishing the attention of the stranger. ‘I don’t mind a dog who wants to say hello to me.”

“Well thank you for saying that,’ the man said. Relieved that he was not going to be taken to task for the over zealous dog, “Some people really don’t like a dog approaching them, but I can see you’re a natural. Do you have a dog yourself?”

Edna, now taking a moment to have a look at Micky’s owner, replied without thinking, “No, I don’t have time for dogs, or anything that might get in the way.”

As soon as she said it, Edna regretted the way she had spoken. She wondered if she might have upset the man, after all, he had a dog and clearly loved it a lot. Perhaps she was distancing herself from creating any sort of rapport with him in that instant.

Time to recover.

“He’s a lovely little chap though,” she said as she continued to pet him. “I might be converted if I had a dog like Micky.”

The man smiled and offered a hand out. “I’m Gerald,” he said and it’s a pleasure to meet you.

Slightly tentatively, Edna took his hand and smiled back at him.

Gerald was a little younger than she was, but still of a similar generation, so she warmed to him and felt a little better about what she had said. The situation was now recovered and she was actually a little relieved.

“I’m walking into town,’ Gerald said, “I wonder if you’d like to walk with us?”

There was a question mark at the end of the suggestion that hung very heavily for a moment or two, while Edna considered the suggestion.

At any other time, she might well have refused shyly and made an excuse, but in the moment, she reflected on the glimpse of the future she had back at the house after Michael left and it caused her to respond very differently than she might have.

“I’d love to, thank you.” She said.

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she realised not only how surprised with herself she was but of another strange sensation she had within her.

It was a feeling that came from very deep down in her soul and one that she had not felt for many years.

It was a sense of excitement and wonder at the possibilities of that moment. Of Gerald and the morning and – perhaps most of all – that there might be a future after Michael.