Sunshine

The Sunshine Coast

It was eight in the morning
when the telephone rang.

My store on the ocean
had burned
down to the ground.
There was nothing left.

My mother cancelled going to work,
and poured herself "a stiff one". 
I was in numbness mode,
stoic, the way I receive all bad news.

The insurance company
viewed it as a suspicious fire,
(and it was,
no doubt about it, 
a suspicious fire.)
They suspected the man in my life.
So no payment,
no return of my investment,
and even my personal belongings
were apparently not covered.

I had to leave the Sunshine Coast.

This time starting over from scratch 
was truly from scratch.

But I lightened my load considerably
by not taking the "boyfriend" with me.
And the baby who was born weeks later
brought the sunshine 
back with her,
when she arrived.

Fireblossom, over at Real Toads, has asked us to write about Disasters. My only problem: which one to choose. Here is Disaster 101, which taught me some harsh realities.