I drove the long way home because I couldn’t face the house yet

Dear Delyara, Not because I don’t love my family. Because I needed ten more minutes of not being needed. The long way is quieter. Fewer lights, less traffic, a stretch of trees, one bend where the sky opens up a little. I took it without fully deciding to and knew exactly why halfway through. I needed transition. Not from place to place. From version of myself to version of myself. That drive probably saved the evening from some sharper tone I would later have regretted.