The windshield wipers of Evelyn’s car squeaked each time they returned to their original place. The sound wasn’t particularly loud, but it was the only real noise being made, apart from the gentle hum of the vehicle as it drove along the empty road.  The rain outside was only a light shower, but it was enough to require wipers, and to turn the sky grey.

     “Pretty dismal weather, isn’t it?”

     Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, Evelyn gave a slight nod in response to her mother’s comment, and then the sound of the wipers took over once more.

     Evelyn’s mother, Margaret, was in her early sixties, but she looked almost exactly as she had thirty-one years ago, when her first and only child was born. She had never allowed her naturally pale skin to tan, she had never changed her make-up or hair style, and even before the first signs of grey, she had successfully found a shade of brown that matched her original hair colour perfectly; evidently her hair was not just brown, it was Hazel Splendor.

     Evelyn looked a lot like her mother, but her hair was a much darker brown, and unlike Margaret, who spent each morning securing hers into a tight bun, Evelyn usually did little more than brush her hair and let it fall in whichever way it pleased.

     Although her eyes remained on the road in front of her, Evelyn could hear her mother shifting restlessly in the passenger seat at each squeak of the cacophonous wipers, and at one point out of the corner of her eye she could see her mother glance at her, then at the car radio, then back at her. Evelyn knew that Margaret was trying to get her to turn on the radio, but she didn’t move. She wanted to see what her mother would do.

     Margaret’s awkward motions continued for a few minutes before she finally gave up and, all in one swift motion, moved her hand to the volume control, turned it up, and returned her hand to her lap. Unfortunately, the radio was not on a music station. The quiet of the car was replaced by the low, fast-talking voice of a news broadcaster who was listing the events that would be discussed further after some advertisements.

     Evelyn shifted her gaze to the radio, and then back to the road. “What are you doing, Mom?”

     Margaret shrugged. “We usually listen to music. This is the first time you’ve driven me and it hasn’t been on.”

     “I have some things to think about, so I decided to keep the radio off. I didn’t realize it would bother you.” As soon as she said it, Evelyn knew that that last part was a lie. Of course she’d known that the lack of music would bother her mother. She’d been counting on it.

     “Well, it was so quiet. I had to turn some music on.”

     “That’s not music.” Evelyn could feel herself leading her mother along in the conversation, dropping crumbs along the path, without even really trying. For everything that Evelyn said, she could easily predict how Margaret would reply. One topic would lead to another, and soon they would be right where Evelyn planned for them to be.

     “Well yes, obviously that isn’t music.” Margaret stared at the radio, clearly unable to decide what to do about the unmelodious sounds coming from it. “Well… it’s your car.”

     Evelyn reached an intersection where she would be turning right, and she briefly met her mother’s gaze as she looked over her shoulder to check her blind spot. “And what does that have to do with anything?”

     “Why was the radio on this station? Don’t you usually listen to music?”

     Evelyn turned the car onto a road surrounded by trees. The leafy branches blocked most of the rain, and the lack of water on the car’s windshield caused the wipers to squeak more loudly. “Sometimes I listen to the news.” Evelyn turned the wipers off, and both women sat in silence as the voice of a female reporter came on to describe the aftermath of an earthquake in Asia.

     “So far we know that about seventy people are dead, and a couple hundred have been injured. It is likely that there are many people still trapped under the rubble of buildings. Emergency crews are working as fast as they can to--”

     “I’ve heard enough of this.” Margaret turned the tuning dial until she heard music. The tunes on this station were slow and solely instrumental, not to either of the women’s taste, but she didn’t try to change it again.

     Evelyn didn’t say anything about the music, but she glanced over at her mother. “Mom, do you ever listen to the news?” She could almost feel the crumbs falling from her hands.

     Margaret stared out her window at the trees. “What’s the point of hearing about every depressing thing that’s going on in the world?”

     “That’s exactly what Dad used to say.” Another crumb. “He never let me listen to the news. He said there wasn’t any point.”

     Margaret nodded. “He was right.”

     “Do you really think so?” Evelyn watched as best she could for her mother’s reaction to this question, and was not surprised to see a startled expression on Margaret’s face.

     “He was your father. He took care of you. He took care of us both.”

     “Does that make him always right?”

    Margaret was quiet for a moment. “…Why hear about all these horrible things that we have no control over?”

     “Because they’re real.” Evelyn’s eyes shifted back and forth between the road and her mother. “What sort of world would we live in if everyone just decided to live in happy ignorance?”

     Margaret was now staring at her daughter. “Is something wrong?”

     For a moment Evelyn considered saying exactly what was wrong, but she knew that it wasn’t the right time for it, not yet. She shook her head and said, “We’re here.”

     Margaret looked out the window as they drove by a simple wooden sign, painted white, with the words “Green Valley Cemetery” neatly printed in black. “They’ve repainted the sign. It wasn’t so easy to read last month.”

     “Right.” Evelyn drove the car into a vacant dirt parking lot. There didn’t appear to be anyone else around “Now it’s very clear, isn’t it? Black and white.” She didn’t try to conceal the cynicism in her voice.

     Margaret turned away from the window slowly. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”

     Evelyn turned the engine off, but left the radio on, and faced her mother. Although her actions appeared natural enough, they felt as if they were preplanned. In truth, they almost were. “Do you really want to know?”

     Margaret hesitated. “Well… I’m your mother. I should know if you have a problem.”

     Evelyn shook her head. “No, I mean it. Do you really want to know? You don’t have to if you don’t want to. We could get out of the car right now, and pretend that everything is fine. You could keep living in your happy…” Evelyn stopped abruptly, realizing that she was saying more than she’d meant to say. She shook her head and reached for the door handle. “Forget it.”

     Margaret grabbed Evelyn’s hand. “What were you about to say? Were you about to call me ignorant?”

     Evelyn stared into her mother’s eyes for a moment, but quickly looked away when she felt water welling up within them. She struggled to keep her emotions in check. “Would you like to prove me wrong?”

     Margaret released her daughter’s arm and turned her gaze elsewhere as well. For a moment both women stared out the car window at the cemetery beside them. The rain had stopped, and the sun was just beginning to show through the clouds. It shone down on a great field of green, with several trees, mostly willows, scattered neatly among the various memorials of lost loved ones. There were a few upright tombstones, particularly in the older area of the cemetery, but most of the graves were marked with small white plaques that sat on the ground.

     Still looking outside of the car, Margaret nodded. “I want to know. Tell me what’s wrong.”

     Evelyn took a deep breath. From this moment on, she was out of crumbs. “Dan and I are getting divorced.”

     From the right angle the cemetery might look to be nothing but a field of grass, trees and flowers, but somewhere under those plants was Evelyn’s father, and Margaret’s husband, George, who had died very suddenly of cancer about two years ago. Since then, the two women had gone to visit his grave once a month. This was the man who had first introduced Evelyn to Dan, and had encouraged the two to marry. Evelyn knew that for her mother, losing that marriage was like losing a part of George.

     Margaret continued to stare out the car window silently, and eventually Evelyn found herself forced to break the silence.

     “Mom? Did you hear me?”

     Margaret finally turned away from the window. “I don’t know what to say… You’re getting divorced? Why?”

     “I’m going to ask you again. Are you sure you want to—”

     “Just tell me.” Margaret sighed. “Why?”

     Evelyn didn’t answer right away. A part of her wished that her mother had taken her offer to get out of the car and forget what had already been said. A part of her considered doing that very thing herself. But Evelyn forced herself to look her mother in the eyes and say, “Because we found out that we’ve been cheating on each other.”


     It happens exactly as Evelyn plans. She tells Dan that she’s going to visit a friend in the city, but she’ll be home tomorrow afternoon. Then she waits until the woman comes by, the one that Dan thinks she doesn’t know about. And then she phones the man that she thinks Dan doesn’t know about. It’s all very simple.

     Evelyn hesitates at the front door of their house, just for a moment. She tries not to think about it, but she can’t stop her mind. She fumbles with her keys in the lock as she visualizes walking into her house with the man she’s been cheating with, knowing that Dan will be there. She drops them on the ground as she remembers that he’ll be there with the woman he’s been cheating with. Just pretend you don’t know, she thinks to herself. Just walk right in. It’ll be over soon.

     The man beside Evelyn bends down and retrieves her keys for her. She manages to force a smile before unlocking the door. Evelyn opens it quietly, but Dan and the woman wouldn’t have heard her even if she hadn’t. The sound of romantic music echoes loudly throughout the very spacious house. The noise bounces along the art-covered walls until it becomes trapped in the vast ceiling of the foyer. The music seems to be all around Evelyn, but she knows that it’s coming from the sound system in the living room.

     The man beside Evelyn smiles and puts his arm around her. “What, did you turn the music on just before coming to meet me?”

     Evelyn shakes her head. “No. I didn’t turn the music on.”

     The man’s smile immediately disappears. “What do you mean? Is there someone else here? I thought you told me your husband would be gone until tomorrow afternoon.” He quickly drops his arm to his side.

     Evelyn pulls the arm back around her. “Don’t worry about it. I have it all worked out.”

     Evelyn leads the man with her through the main hall. Much like the rest of the house, it is filled with decorative art. In this particular hall, there are mostly paintings, but a small table stands just by the entrance to the living room, upon which there sits a large white and gold flower that gives off a strong scent of roses. For a fake flower, it’s exquisite.
Evelyn finds Dan and the woman on the couch in the living room, kissing; no more, no less. The woman with Dan has short black hair, and is wearing stylish black pants and a sky blue blouse. She’s attractive, but far from perfect. If she allowed herself to think about it, Evelyn might be slightly comforted by the notion that Dan’s attraction to this woman could be more than physical. She doesn’t allow herself to think about it.

     Evelyn feels a sudden calm throughout her body, as if she’s managed to lock away all emotion. In a flat voice she says, “Dan.”

     Dan immediately jumps up from the couch. “Eve! What—” He notices the man’s arm around his wife. “What’s going on?”

     Evelyn meets the woman’s eyes with an emotionless gaze. “Leave.” She then takes a step away from the man beside her and gives him the same look. “You too.”

     Both the woman and the man leave immediately, eager to escape the awkward situation. As soon as they’re gone, Evelyn turns to Dan. “We need to talk.”

     The music continues to play. Dan glances at the sound system across the room, and then at Evelyn, who is standing right beside it. For almost a minute they stand in silence, until finally Dan walks over to the stereo and shuts it off. “Who was that man?”

     Evelyn shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about them. That’s not what this is about.”

     Dan quickly spins around to face Evelyn. “Did you think I wouldn’t be here? What were you doing with him?”

     “What were you doing with her?”

     “Her?.. She’s… I was…”

     “Don’t bother.” Evelyn walks toward the couch, but doesn’t sit. “I told you, that’s not what this is about. I’ve seen her. You’ve seen him. We already know all we need to know about them.”

     Dan follows his wife toward the couch. “Alright then, if that’s not what this is about, what is?”

     “Do you love me?”

     “What?”

     Evelyn looks into her husband’s eyes. “Do you love me?”

     Dan stares at the wall behind his wife. “We’ve always gotten along fine. We’ve never even had an argume—”

     “Stop.” Evelyn takes a step forward. “I already know that we get along fine, but that’s not love. That’s not what I asked. Do you love me?”

     “I don’t think…” Dan sighs. “No. I guess I never really thought about it before, but it’s true. I don’t love you.”

     Evelyn takes a deep breath. “Then we’re in agreement.”


     “We didn’t love each other. We never loved each other.” Evelyn broke her gaze with her mother and looked out the car window again, to the green field of the cemetery. She wondered if her mother had noticed, as she had, that the grass was too green, almost artificially so. “You probably don’t understand.”

     “Don’t be so certain.” Margaret stared down at her hands. “I never loved your father.”

     “What?” Evelyn turned back to her mother. She considered how she should feel about this new information regarding the relationship between her parents. She’d always thought that her parents were very happily married. No matter how she thought she should feel, however, all she could feel was relief. She’d expected her mother to be upset with her. Instead she’d discovered that her mother had been dealing with a similar situation. “Do you think he ever cheated on you?”

     Margaret shrugged. “I don’t know. I never wanted to know.”

     “But do you think he loved you?”

     “I honestly don’t know how he felt. It seemed so easy to just pretend that we were a happy family. To live in ‘happy ignorance’, as you called it.”

     Evelyn nodded understandingly. “But it wasn’t real.”

     “No. Not for me at least…”

     “And here I thought you were going to be upset with me.” Evelyn shook her head. “I didn’t expect this…”

     “Well, surprises happen.” Margaret smiled at her daughter. “Thank you for telling me. I’m glad one of us had the courage to do it… So, what now?” She glanced at the radio and changed the station back to the news. “Do I learn about all the terrible stuff that’s going on in the world?”

     “Sometimes.” Evelyn turned off the radio. “But I think the first step is to be aware of the things happening in your own life.” She smiled and squeezed Margaret’s hand. Regardless of the reason for it, it felt nice to be able to share some situation with her mother. “What do you think?” Evelyn suddenly realized how long it had been since she’d last asked her mother that.

     Margaret squeezed back. “I think there’s someone else we should talk to.”

     The two women got out of the car and walked in silence through the hollow beauty of the cemetery. Finally they reached the grave that they had been visiting every month since the man who belonged to it had died. They both silently read the words that were written on the small white plaque, “George, beloved husband and father.”

     Evelyn knelt down beside the grave and gently touched the writing. The rain had made the plaque smooth and cold, and in one corner a very small speck of paint had chipped away, revealing grey stone under the white. She looked up at her mother, who was standing tall beside her. “What do we say?”

     Margaret stared down at the grave, took a deep breath, and said, “We need to talk.”