Laura

Barely looking her twenty four years at just five foot six, Laura's blonde shoulder length hair flows whisk fully in the cool breeze as she steps outside her door, always wearing that gentle smile upon her face; seemingly unafraid looking back into the house at the boxes sitting one on top of the other.
Every morning Laura would stand outside her blue front door checking herself, yes she was wearing her neatly ironed black trousers, the green blouse just visible beneath her black jacket, pressing on the left side of her chest to feel the name badge beneath. Laura would always look ahead at the same people who passed everyday, the polite smile and nod she would give them, knowing it means a lot to some, Laura would greet them a “good morning” before continuing her journey. For days the feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her she would miss that street, that town, those people. Glancing over her shoulder at the sold sign attached to her house, Laura's eyes were filled with loss yet her smile said otherwise.
Merely five minutes walk down the street Laura would stop and inhale a deep breath of air knowing that she had arrived at work, her local superstore, a place she had spent many years. Reaching the side of the building Laura would look at her watch, “just checking the time” she would say to herself knowing she was nine minutes early, in the eight years she had worked there not once had she been late. Laura would stop at the colleague entrance, swiping her card across the alarm it would open at her request, still knowing work begins the smile would not fade. Swiping her card once again on another machine inside the corridor her eyes would be fixed on the small display that would read “Laura Ashworth – shift start.”
Laura would always find her time sitting at the checkout relaxing, from the times Mrs Alan, the little old lady with the walking frame who would walk further to her till, to the young families that grew up around her; friends she never knew she had. Often one of Laura's customers would ask “If she ever felt let down by her achievements, does she not want more from life?” usually Laura would smile and tell them she couldn't want for more than the people around her, if Laura minded the question she never let it show, yet on this day nothing could stop Laura smiling.
Everyone could see it in Laura's eyes, she was not happy but not sad, somewhere in the middle, the signs on the walls that read “Good Luck Laura” meant everyone knew that the young bubbly girl they had grown to love was leaving, this was Laura's last day, a new direction was going to start, her future in the making.