The Walk

"Oh snap, the pavement is still damp after that shower we had earlier this afternoon. Better be careful my clumsy self doesn't slip and fall. Remember the bathtub incident? Because the firemen sure didn't."

"I think I can walk one mile in less than ten minutes, although today I feel like I'm moving with concrete shoes. I will still calculate my steps; I didn't spend all that money on a SoFit watch for it to collect dust." 

"I'm seriously tired of gray days, we've had four in a row now. When will the sun come back out? I need to work on my tan! It's so depressing, I really need a night out .. owww, what did I just step on .. what a dumb place to put pebbles!" 

"Maybe some kids were playing with those little stones, back when families used to hang out here. Where is the empathy man? Didn't those people ever step on legos, or green army men!? My parents would never have stood idly by whilst their feet were getting torn up by tiny toy parts. " 

"Last time I heard from my parents, mom said I need to get those carrot seeds planted soon. My spice garden is growing so good, but I wish spices could still be found in jars, how convenient was that? My mother had some basil in the cupboard from the nineteen seventies, and swore it was still good when I tried to toss it out. Mom always said to save for a rainy day, but gee ma, fifty-year-old spice is too much."

"Ya know what's spicy? The tall, dark, handsome bachelor from the show 'Single Guy'. The ratings must have plummeted without cable.

I'd rather be reading my Crawling Dead comics anyway, and consuming those delicious steaks Aaron used to make. 

He could have had his own tv show, I swear."

"It's not fair really, I don't even know where Aaron is right now. He left that night, we fought so bad .. how dare he accuse me of getting into his head, and messing up his "thought process?" Is he crazy?

I didn't do a thing to him, nooooo but nooooo. Just the opposite, Mr. I Have To Be Right Or Else. Hmph. 

He thinks he's all that and a bag of chips, right? 

Guess that stupid girl thought so too, and I'm glad I caught them together, they deserve each other! But now I feel so sad even thinking about it, because I thought he was all that, a bag of chips .. plus a coke too." 

"Guys don't care, nope they don't. Just love you and leave you, right? One minute you're a happy couple, the next some nasty cow is trying to get her horns in your man. Well never again, no way am I going to be that dumb again. How stupid did they think I was anyway? Apparently really stupid, since it went on for like three months. Ugh. Love is highly overrated, but I want to be in the middle of it!"

"Oh wow, look at the trees getting their green on. I love this park, always have. It hasn't changed much since I was a kid, but I'm glad they upgraded the playground equipment, and put in that rubber stuff so the kids would be safe. Too bad no one is taking advantage of those awesome swings! My favorite thing as a child, besides fishing."

"Grandpa taught me how to fish, he said that if I was going to fish with the big boys, I needed to bait my own hook. Yeah, the worms were so gross, I'm a girl, crawly bugs aren't my thing. But, it turns out it wasn't so bad. Once you get the worm on the hook, you drop it into the water, it wriggles around and boom, along comes an interested fish. I guess it's kind of like dating!" 

"Worm twerking, Tworming? Maybe I've coined a new phrase, although something tells me it's not gonna go viral. I'd love to be able to put it on MyPage though, I really miss seeing all those goofy videos, and pictures. Everyone's lives seemed so perfect, yet not. Does that make sense? It does to me, even though there's only one of us in this conversation. 

It's good that I learned to laugh at myself at an early age." 

"My walking time is a little off for sure, it's been way more than ten minutes and I haven't even gone a mile. 

Maybe just for today that's ok? It's not like my personal trainer is going to be unhappy with my performance. 

I can hear him now "push push push", I mean gee whiz Georgio, I'm doing squats not having a baby!

 Ha, remember that last day, when he was so mad at all of us for not doing enough cardio, and I said "chill Terminator, we'll be back!" 

Georgio pouted in the corner for an hour, his bulging muscles twitching, as he did furious sit-ups.

I guess for stress relief from having to train up a bunch of lazy folk. Kind of wish Georgio would pop up over there in that batch of wildflowers, and start yelling at me." 

"Flowers are out all over this park, I'm surprised I'm not sneezing my face off, but hey knock on wood! I'm enjoying the view, now if the sun would shine, I'd feel even better. Might go down to the lake tomorrow. And do what? Sit and stare at the water? Take a few of my closest friends with me for a picnic?"

"We need a girl's night out, seriously. Margaritas, Cap'n Morgan, oh the memories. How about that night Sarah drank too much, after she and her boyfriend split? What a night! She danced on the table, got a bouncer's number, and he ended up carrying her to my car. Somehow I doubt that was his first rodeo with a drunk, crazy girl. Funny thing is, they are still married! I mean, wherever they are now."

 "Man, I feel drops of water .. more rain? I really don't want to go home yet, but the sun is setting soon, and I don't like to be out after dark. It kind of creeps me out, especially because I live alone, no dog, no boyfriend to help protect me."

"Life. We had one, didn't we girl? A pretty good one! Fun, interesting friends, great times, memories. My job wasn't too bad, I'd actually love to be walking in the door of that place first thing in the morning! Never thought I'd hear me say that. What happens around the water cooler .. definitely didn't stay there."

"That was before though. Before the virus, before people disappeared, before time stopped. I still can't get through to anyone to find out where Mom has gone, or Sarah and Jon, or Aaron. I woke up to find the world a different place, sometimes wish I hadn't bothered. I keep trying, because the electricity is still on, even though it acts sporadic, my phone is charged, but I just get a busy signal, or dead air.

 So annoying!"

"I will have a ton of stuff to post when MyPage comes back up, I think they're just doing some technical work or something. I take lots of pics every day, and use captions. Smart right?

 They need to hurry up, maybe I can find my people on social media, always worked for bad storms, and such."

"The sun looks really cool setting behind the budding trees of my park. Wait, I can get another pic or two, before it goes away. If they would move those dumb abandoned Military tanks, and jeep thingys .. no .. hum-somethings. Aaron told me about them once. Hummers? Who cares, they are littering the landscape! I can't have ugly pics when we get back online!"

"Omg I forgot to scoot down to the grocery store today. Could have done Steak-N-Bake delivery, but it's kinda hard when there's NO employees. Pizza Pitt isn't delivering either. I thought maybe a pick up order? Nope. How lame is this?"

"Guess it's me, and chicken noodle soup tonight! And for my kitty Ems, a can of tuna. At least I'm not totally alone, and everything will be fine, once I find my parents, and my friends. Right?"