over easy

Dawn broke like an fledgling-flipped over easy egg, and what we know as time stood still. The earth was alive, birds singing lilting melodies in their morning glory. Elena rubbed sleep from her face and smiled, the scars of her past shrinking like male genitalia in ice water.

She pulled the door shut behind her, sun shining on her beaming face, and laughed. Freedom never felt this good. 600 miles west of her bastard ex-husband and another 400 to go…

The Motel 6 sign became a tiny yellow speck in her rear-view memory as she drove down the interstate.