It was odd at first

Improvising

Cut back the rosemary?
Wear dark eyeliner?

Marianne was equally exhilarated and ashamed by an unexpected lightness of being that surfaced after a few months of no external scrutiny or judgment

Still, she was suspect of her newly gifted freedom, having fallen for its promise before
Like the time, shortly after moving out, when she realized that Alice’s demands and disapproval had followed her from 33 Bennington Avenue to 71/c Jameson Place

Their history tattooed on Marianne’s conscience

She had attempted taking alternate routes throughout her life
Inevitably finding herself frustratingly back on the emotional path Alice had tenaciously coerced her down

For Lizards, aggression cooperation and deception cycles lead to stable populations
For Marianne, these behaviors had bred inadequacy, resentment and doubt

Each time she caved in, gave up, in the name of what was good over what was right, her self-loathing grew

Marianne has been standing in her kitchen
since 4:00 am.
A recent habit she’s developed

During the velvety hour before daybreak
Still in a state of wakeful sleepy fog
She relives conversations and events
Searches for explanations

Looking down at the card lying open on the kitchen table, she feels a, not altogether unpleasant, wave of nervous expectation run through her; as though on the cusp of a possibility or a breakthrough

The card was an invitation and had arrived the day after Alice’s funeral, mixed in with bills and advertising

A plain white envelope with only her address typed on its face

And a matching unsigned card inside

Seven words in Pica font

You are cordially invited
To your life