Danielle Dayney19 Comments on Changing Horizons

Changing Horizons

We shared an underdressed kiss standing on the pavement in front of the airport. Bones rattled from February chill; breath turned misty like my eyes.

“Good luck,” I whispered into Justin’s shoulder as I untangled my arms from his back. “Maybe this will be the one.”

“Thanks.” He half smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

Justin boarded a New York-bound plane wearing his only suit pressed into neat lines.

I returned to our Detroit home with cold feet.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Published by Danielle Dayney

Born and raised in Ohio, Danielle Dayney got her start writing rock concert reviews for a music magazine called The Glass Eye in Toledo. Today, her work has appeared in the Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review, Huffington Post, Dead Housekeeping, The Mindful Word, and in several anthologies including the Virginia Writers Centennial Anthology, Nevertheless We Persisted, and Beach Reads: Lost and Found. She also received awards at BlogHer for her creative nonfiction essays. Her debut essay collection is forthcoming from Brandylane Publishers.

Categories Microstories, nonfiction, UncategorizedTags , , , , , , , , ,

19 thoughts on “Changing Horizons”

  1. optimisticauthor10 January 11, 2018 — 1:24 am

    This was quite powerful for such a short piece. I could visualize the two people saying goodbye at the airport.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Danielle Dayney January 11, 2018 — 10:21 am

      Thank you! Yes, we did this many times before my husband got his first job as an attorney.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  2. Bel January 11, 2018 — 2:20 am

    Love the way you wrote this…short but sweet!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Asha Rajan January 11, 2018 — 3:35 am

    I’m invested in Justin’s success now (that was neatly done in so few words). I hope this was the one… whatever it was he was going for (a job, I assume)!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Danielle Dayney January 11, 2018 — 10:24 am

      Thank you, Asha! Yes, our home was (and in so many ways still is) Detroit. But in 2009 after the auto industry collapsed there weren’t many jobs. We decided on a whim to go to NY instead. He studied and took the bar exam there, and miraculously after many flights (and falsifyling that he lived at his aunt’s in Long Island) got his first job there. Now here we are almost ten years later in beautiful Virginia!

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. Asha Rajan January 11, 2018 — 1:08 pm

        Oh, that is the HAPPIEST update. How wonderful! Thank you for sharing that with me. I’m so glad things worked out as they did for you both.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. (Post author)
        Danielle Dayney January 11, 2018 — 1:15 pm

        Thank you. It was hard leaving everything I loved in Detroit, but I love VA for different reasons. It’s my “grown-up” home.

        Like

  4. Amy Bee January 11, 2018 — 6:19 pm

    It’s a tense little piece. That strange in-between time, one foot in the past, the other foot poised perilously over a nebulous future. Good job capturing it!

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Lisa Shaw January 11, 2018 — 8:00 pm

    So much said with so few words. Well done! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. Stacie January 12, 2018 — 12:58 am

    I am always happy when people write tight little stories. You don’t always need alot of words. Well done!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. d3athlily January 12, 2018 — 1:21 am

    I was there with you both, remembering the times I went to interviews and had the same conversation with my husband. Great piece, D! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Parul Thakur January 12, 2018 — 5:36 am

    Beautiful! It made me think of our goodbyes when we were studying in different cities.

    Liked by 1 person

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