DASHED DREAMS Read Online Free
Author: Susan Worley-Bean
the foods, then started dishing out the food.
When they finished their dinner, the girls paid the check and made their way into the casino. They decided to play a round of the 25-cent “Wheel of Fortune” machines, with the mega jackpot up to $1.5 million. When they walked up to the bank of machines, the sounds emitted from the machines said, “Wheel of Fortune.” They started playing each hoping for the spin symbols to line up. They laughed, “Hey, forget hitting the Wheel of Fortune. Let’s get the spin!” They’d been playing for about three minutes when Lynda lined up the three spin symbols and the internal sound of clapping began. She hit the spin button. Around and around the wheel spun landing on the 1,000. Lynda started screaming and the “audience” was clapping.
“I just won $250.00!” she announced excitedly.
Chapter 5
The next morning the girls drove to the airport almost in silence. “These early-morning flights are a bear…having to be at the airport so early,” Emma said.
After parking the car, they checked in and began their wait. They didn’t mind the wait as it gave the girls time to chat--as if they don’t chat every day. Emma spotted a newspaper shop across the lobby and decided get something to read. She asked if the other two would like something; both reading other things, they shook their heads no.
By the time Emma returned, they were calling their flight. The girls boarded the plane and got settled in their seats. Both Lynda and Jillian pulled out their reading material and started to read. Emma passed out the three magazines she’d purchased, Great Country Gardens, Country Stars Today, and True Romances. Thinking of Lynda’s comment on starting her mother’s flowerbed, Emma handed her the garden magazine. Lynda looked up at her and smiled. Emma handed Jillian the country magazine, “Here, Jillie, read something that’s lighter.” Jillian put down her medical journal and took the magazine.
“Thanks.”
Jillian looked at the cover picture of Pierce Layton and the feature story, “Who’s Hot in Country?” She whispered, “Who cares.” She paused for a second, staring at the picture. Nice, she thought. She opened the magazine to the featured article and found another picture of Layton with a few smaller pictures of “hot” stars. Jillian put her head against the seatback and began to daydream: What would it be like to be married and have a couple of children? The daydream turned into a dream because she was married to a faceless man and had faceless children; she was no longer a doctor; and she was very unhappy. She wakened with a start, when Emma jabbed her. “Jillie, are you asleep?”
“Nope, just resting my eyes,” she mumbled, trying not to show that she indeed was asleep.
“Would you please trade magazines with me?” Em asked.
“Sure.” She handed Em the country magazine but declined the gardening magazine.
Jillian placed her forehead on the cool window and looked at the clouds floating past. Trying to shake off the dream, she imagined what it’d be like not to be a doctor, which was something she’d wanted all her life. Well, she’d wanted to be a rodeo clown when she was five, but then the medical seed was planted when her grandmother fell off a horse and broke her hip. Jillian and her parents were at her side in the infirmary, and Jillian was fascinated with the fast-paced hospital. People would say, “Oh, you want to be a nurse.” And she’d say, “No, a doctor.” They would react strangely as if she was asking to be the Man in the Moon. She’d given up on romance to concentrate on her career. She’d gone to school with girls who were married during school or had gotten married after medical school. She wondered how many of them were still married. Jillian thought, it’s possible to be married, once your practice is secure, then you can set regular hours. But she always said, “I just haven’t found Mr. Right yet.”
The
When they finished their dinner, the girls paid the check and made their way into the casino. They decided to play a round of the 25-cent “Wheel of Fortune” machines, with the mega jackpot up to $1.5 million. When they walked up to the bank of machines, the sounds emitted from the machines said, “Wheel of Fortune.” They started playing each hoping for the spin symbols to line up. They laughed, “Hey, forget hitting the Wheel of Fortune. Let’s get the spin!” They’d been playing for about three minutes when Lynda lined up the three spin symbols and the internal sound of clapping began. She hit the spin button. Around and around the wheel spun landing on the 1,000. Lynda started screaming and the “audience” was clapping.
“I just won $250.00!” she announced excitedly.
Chapter 5
The next morning the girls drove to the airport almost in silence. “These early-morning flights are a bear…having to be at the airport so early,” Emma said.
After parking the car, they checked in and began their wait. They didn’t mind the wait as it gave the girls time to chat--as if they don’t chat every day. Emma spotted a newspaper shop across the lobby and decided get something to read. She asked if the other two would like something; both reading other things, they shook their heads no.
By the time Emma returned, they were calling their flight. The girls boarded the plane and got settled in their seats. Both Lynda and Jillian pulled out their reading material and started to read. Emma passed out the three magazines she’d purchased, Great Country Gardens, Country Stars Today, and True Romances. Thinking of Lynda’s comment on starting her mother’s flowerbed, Emma handed her the garden magazine. Lynda looked up at her and smiled. Emma handed Jillian the country magazine, “Here, Jillie, read something that’s lighter.” Jillian put down her medical journal and took the magazine.
“Thanks.”
Jillian looked at the cover picture of Pierce Layton and the feature story, “Who’s Hot in Country?” She whispered, “Who cares.” She paused for a second, staring at the picture. Nice, she thought. She opened the magazine to the featured article and found another picture of Layton with a few smaller pictures of “hot” stars. Jillian put her head against the seatback and began to daydream: What would it be like to be married and have a couple of children? The daydream turned into a dream because she was married to a faceless man and had faceless children; she was no longer a doctor; and she was very unhappy. She wakened with a start, when Emma jabbed her. “Jillie, are you asleep?”
“Nope, just resting my eyes,” she mumbled, trying not to show that she indeed was asleep.
“Would you please trade magazines with me?” Em asked.
“Sure.” She handed Em the country magazine but declined the gardening magazine.
Jillian placed her forehead on the cool window and looked at the clouds floating past. Trying to shake off the dream, she imagined what it’d be like not to be a doctor, which was something she’d wanted all her life. Well, she’d wanted to be a rodeo clown when she was five, but then the medical seed was planted when her grandmother fell off a horse and broke her hip. Jillian and her parents were at her side in the infirmary, and Jillian was fascinated with the fast-paced hospital. People would say, “Oh, you want to be a nurse.” And she’d say, “No, a doctor.” They would react strangely as if she was asking to be the Man in the Moon. She’d given up on romance to concentrate on her career. She’d gone to school with girls who were married during school or had gotten married after medical school. She wondered how many of them were still married. Jillian thought, it’s possible to be married, once your practice is secure, then you can set regular hours. But she always said, “I just haven’t found Mr. Right yet.”
The
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