Mushroom Mines- Part 4 "The beginning of the End - Saying Goodbye"

"After three weeks I was tired out. Exhausted really. I called in sick for a few days with a chest cold and then ventured in again. At ten o'clock on my first day back I entered the office and resigned. Before lunch as Mary helped me finish picking my final bed I discretely informed her of the news. Before 10 minutes somehow every one was informed, upstairs and downstairs. At lunch I approached the watering hole where Tyler alone stood sanitizing his bucket. I looked at him in the eye and grinned,

"I'm so happy! This is it!" I cried. He looked at me confused
"what is it? he questioned.
"I'm done fool!" I responded.
"Done what?" He asked still confused.
Now that I was aware the he was clearly out of the loop I replied "Done this job. I quit. You didn't know? I thought everyone knew already." He laughed, neither of us ever knew sarcasm from truth. We looked at each other blankly.
"Are you serious?" He asked.
"Yeah. I quit at ten today." His big, blue eyes widened
"Whyyyy?" he almost whined, detectably disappointed.
I was surprised at this unexpected disappointment, but remained non-chalent and detached. I walked to the waste bin my back turned to him and tossed in my ghost gloves making him wait. Then I walked back to the sinks where was now standing, waiting, watching me.
"Well.. I thought about it a lot and I've decided that this place just isn't' for me.." The same blurb I had given my boss in her office.

We walked into the lunch room where I answered the question of why and "will you be staying for the rest of the day?" many more times, to which I responded to with "of course, I'm finishing the day. I'm not leaving out of rage or something foolish". I was surprised once again that many of the workers, though conditioned to such walk-outs, were saddened to see me go and would miss me. It was an odd feeling quitting a job, some thing I had never experienced before.

Saying goodbye to these people who had actually like me and who had grown on me was sad. Leaving the mushroom mines was liberating, but worrying. I hoped that I hadn't made a terrible mistake that I would regret. In the car there were tears and smiles, for freedom and for loss, while driving the long, curving road home."