Baggage

It all fit in three suitcases. All of it. Five years later, and everything fit in three medium-size suitcases. They weren't even nice looking. They weren't expensive, they had been bought at thrift stores somewhere in the world. Who knows who had owned them before. Who knows what faraway lands those bags traveled, what they had carried, why they were discarded. Maybe it was because they had been replaced by newer, nicer, name brand luggage. And these three cases were now lying on a bed; being filled to the brim with miscellaneous items, many of which didn't have any importance at the time. Was this the whole purpose of their existence? To carry a woman's and her child's material items three hours away? When their maximum capacity was reached, they were zipped tightly with the hope that they wouldn't burst open. That was all the woman needed; to have her meager belongings strewn all over the yard. But these three pieces of luggage did their duty, they held strong and managed to carry their load all the way back to reality. When they finally reached their destination, they were relieved of their duty. They were stored away, far away from this woman's gaze because they symbolized a painful period in her life. So, these three, medium-sized bags were hidden, never to be seen again. Five years of her life fit in those three suitcases...who would have known it was possible.