Precipice: The Beginning by Kevin J. Howard

cold, she learned to enjoy the few warm moments. That first moment when she would step outside and the sun’s rays rolled across her face, or the smell of the brewing coffee. Simple pleasures were hers. No court could take those away. Annie shook the daydreams from her head and closed the shower curtain, cursing softly at the damp carpet. Now she’d have to clean that before it began to mold. One more project added onto Annie’s distraction list. Not really wanting to, Annie undressed and faced the mirror, standing naked with a slight slouch. Tilting her head from side to side offered no comfort.
    “You look like shit.” Annie frowned at the words she spoke, hating the tone. It was the voice of a beaten woman, not of the strong woman Travis had married.
    Annie ran a hand down her smooth stomach, sucked in and held a breath as she turned to the side. There was a good three-pound weight gain since her last mirror assessment two weeks ago. Not a huge weight gain to most fat Americans, but Annie was a petite woman that showed every pound. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. This is what depression does. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, the signs had become quite clear. Gained weight, messy house, her usually high-maintained wardrobe replaced with the comfy robe and worn slippers; all pointed to depression. It took her from the high peak of happy normality and pushed her down, causing the tumble. And like a snowball, she had picked up weight, dark thoughts and clutter while racing uncontrollably, faster and faster. She knew that if she hit the bottom, it’d be too late.
    Erica from next door likes to pep it up by saying her house kept her busy, but she was on the same mountain, falling just as fast if not faster from the weight of her denial. She and Erica were both military wives, only Erica’s husband had been killed in action two years ago. The thought sparked a deep sadness. Thinking of Travis six feet beneath the ground. Annie shook the negativity from her mind and stepped into the shower.
    Twenty minutes later Annie had exited the shower, dressed in her comfy sweatshirt and black pajama bottoms and went downstairs to start the daily routine. She went into the kitchen and flipped on the small television, fumbling with panicked fingers to lower the volume as it burst into life. Her immediate reaction was to look up the stairs with her ear cocked toward Logie’s room, waiting for the inevitable thump as he hopped out of bed. There was no thump, just the sound of her breath and the morning anchorman on the channel five news. Annie opened the fridge and got the coffee beans, the expensive coffee beans. Probably the only luxury she afforded herself, but well worth the little extra. If it kept her going, how could she deny it? Annie ground the beans and allowed the television a slightly louder voice, turning the volume from level fourteen to a whopping eighteen.
    “Very compelling.” Gregory Cunningham gave the camera his award-winning stare, shuffling papers as he prepared to move forward. Eyes sparkling as if they were filled with glitter. “Here are some clips from the last political rally in Washington D.C. with the third party candidate Manuel Marques of the Green Nation Alliance. Who as of this moment is the frontrunner in the polls.”
    The image switched to a very handsome man, his face honest and caring. He wore a black suite with a green tie. “This country can no longer afford to pretend that our planet is not in need of assistance. Assistance from every man, woman and child. Earth doesn’t care if you’re black or white, rich or poor. This planet provides for us simply because that’s what it’s here to do. Mother us. Shelter us. Keep us breathing with the air given to us from its trees. But things have changed.” Manuel hit his hand on the podium, adding passion to his words. “Our latest environmental tests confirm that our ozone layer is all but gone, depleted by decades of harmful chemicals and