Another Day, Another Dollar

“Maisy, I can’t believe you're still here!” 

I looked up at Tulia, surprised to find her standing in my doorway. Pausing Broad City, I took out my headphones, picked up my laptop, and placed it on my night stand, amazed at how warm my lap felt from my computer’s exhaustion.

“It’s really good,” I said with a guilty smile. I held my arms up in front of me, linked my fingers, and arched my back, head dropping.

“I know it’s good. But look outside,” she said. 

I looked out my window, took in the grey skies, the cedar swaying slightly in the breeze.

“What about it?”

Tulia was starting to look impatient. She was wearing dark jeans, a reddish flannel, and hiking boots. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a fluffy ponytail.

“Come on,” She said. “Why don’t you get out of bed, put on some leggings, and go for a walk with me.”

I didn’t respond right away, so she added, “It’s adventure weather.”

I looked out my window again. It was, indeed, adventure weather, and I was slightly annoyed that Tulia knew to play that card.

“You’re very bossy,” I said as I got out of bed and opened my lower dresser drawer. Black leggings, grey SUNY crewneck, and some sneaks would do the trick.

“Is anyone else coming?” I asked Tulia.

“No. Katie’s at Matt’s house and Lauren’s at the library, trying to get her essay done.”

“On a saturday?”

“Yeah, I think she’s pretty behind. It’s supposed to be twenty pages on how and why some supreme court judges flip flopped their ideologies once they held their seats on the court.

“Yikes.”

“I know, right? She has to post it tomorrow by midnight.”

“Freaking polly sci,” I said. “Why can’t it just be due monday morning, instead?”

We headed downstairs, through our living room and into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it with water, chugging it. I hadn’t realized how dehydrated I was till I started drinking it. I filled another glass.

“Do you have a key?” I asked Tulia.

“Course,” she said. 

“Do you know when it’s supposed to start raining?”

“Supposedly it’s not gonna start till 5:30ish.”

I looked at the clock on the stove. “So we’ve got a good hour and a half. Ready?”

“Sure am. Want to bring some sippy cups of wine?” she asked.

I thought about it a moment. “It’s a little early. But yeah, why not?” I said.

She went over and grabbed our sippy cups: small, clear, reusable plastic glasses with lids. She opened the fridge and filled them with our box of pinot grigio.

“Let’s hit it,” I said.

Tulia handed me the cups as she turned around to lock our front door. We headed down the street, passed a few houses, and reached the gas station at the end of the block.

“Rail trail?” I asked.

“Definitely.”

We crossed the street, taking a sip of wine. The weather was cool, probably mid-fifties, but humid too. A storm was definitely brewing. 

We walked another eighty feet or so, and then reached the old railroad tracks that they converted to a walking/biking trail. It spanned more than fifty miles through the Hudson Valley.

“Which way?” I asked. Going left would lead us towards Main Street and town. Right would bring us in the direction of Rosendale, with a few different nature preserves within walking distance.

“Let’s go right,” Tulia said. 

The oaks, elms, and pines swung loomingly on either side of us. The trail looked empty as far as we could see, and it was darker in there than it was on the street. The layer of brown leaves were soft beneath our feet, soggy from the April rain.

“What should we do tonight? I asked. “Wouldn’t mind getting a pizza, and staying in to watch a movie.” I was still vaguely hungover from our escapades the previous night, and couldn’t picture crawling home at 2:30 again.

“Sounds good to me,” she said with a smile. Tulia and I were always happy to keep things casual, where Katie and Lauren were eager to make the most of their college weekends.

We both took a sip of wine.

“How’s your ethics of religion class going?” I asked.

“Meh. It’s really interesting, but there’s just so much reading.” I nodded in sympathy. 

“At least we don’t have to take things like economics or biochemistry.” This time Tulia was the one who nodded. Both getting degrees in liberal arts, we understood that lots of reading and writing was a small cost to pay.

“Should we go to the preserve down the road? The one that’ll lead to the community gard-”

I paused, knelt down, and picked up a twenty dollar bill.

“Nice!” Tulia said. 

I looked around, but being the only ones in sight, it only made sense to keep it.

“That could buy our pizza tonight!” She said. It’s amazing how exciting $20 can be to college students.

We continued walking, talking, sipping. A huge gust of wind caused us to look up at the trees. A snap behind us made me jerk my head back. A large tree limb hung above the path about thirty feet behind us.

“Maybe we should skip the preserve today,” I said.

“Do you want to turn around?”

“Soon, but not yet.” The impending storm was sending small flutters through my body. I loved it.

“Look,” I said.

Tulia reached down and picked up another twenty dollar bill. 

“This is incredible,” I said, staring at the money in awe.

“Who do you think dropped it?” she asked.

“Dunno. Maybe someone was riding a bike with their jacket pocket open.” 

“We should probably get more wine.”

“Agreed.” I paused, “Look, there’s another one.”

I walked a few paces ahead and picked up a five dollar bill.

“I feel like we just won the lottery,” Tulia said.

“I know. I kinda feel like we’re gonna get bad karma for taking it.. But maybe this is just good karma for other deeds we’ve done in the past?”

“For sure, for sure.” She said. “Maybe we should turn around now, so that if there is more money down the path someone else can find it later.”

“Totally.” I looked up. “Plus, it does feel like it’s gonna rain any minute, and I’d rather not get soaked out here.”

The wind was really picking up now, and the patches of sky that could be seen were an ominous charcoal grey. It felt only slightly unsafe to be on the trail at the moment, and I felt like celebrating our found treasure.

“Do you want to skip?” I asked Tulia.

“Sure! Let me just finish my wine so it doesn’t spill.” 

We took the last few sips from our cups, linked arms, and began to skip at a leisurely pace. It only lasted a few moments, though, until we got slightly winded and fell back to our normal pace.

We walked silently and contently for a few minutes. I was lost in thought thinking about all the treats we could buy with our new findings. A ping of anxiousness broke my thoughts and I looked at Tulia. She was looking straight ahead, her expression serious. 

“Don’t turn around,” she murmured quietly, “But I feel like someone is following us.”

I fought the urge to look behind me. 

“Have you looked?” I asked.

“No. But all of a sudden I just got this overwhelming feeling.”

We picked up our pace. 

“We're not that far from home,” I said assuredly.

“Yeah, but if someone is actually following us I’d rather go to town than to our house.” 

“Should we look?”

“Nope.” She shook her head.

“What if it's nothing? You’re freaking me out.”

“What if someone was leaving a trail of money like Hansel and Grettle?” She asked. 

“Well, we turned around before we got to the end of it-”

“How do you know? Maybe the five dollars was the end of the trail.”

“Ugh, maybe. At the next intersection let's just get off and walk on the road. It’s coming up in a bit.”

“Kay,” she said.  

I felt a drop of rain land on the right side of my head. Then another on my left shoulder. 

“It’s coming,” I said. 

Without thinking, I turned around to look behind us. About thirty feet away was someone in a giant big bird costume. It stood about six feet tall with large bright yellow feathers, and a huge smiling head. 

“Run,” I said. 

Tulia already was. She was a few feet ahead, and dropped her cup.

“My sippie!” She exclaimed. I dropped mine, too.

“We can come get them tomorrow,” I said, breathing heavy.

I glanced behind to see big bird waddling quickly. Luckily, the costume seemed to be hard to run in, and he was further behind then the last time I looked.

“I thought he only came out at night!” I said. 

We had heard reports of students seeing a person in a big bird costume lurking on the trail at night. We assumed whoever it was just liked to freak out drunk people. Seeing him in the light of day made me not so certain. 

It was definitely drizzling now, and running made the drops hit harder and faster. We approached the entrance that we came in on, and veered left to get off the trail. We hit the sidewalk and continued to run, though a bit slower, going parallel with the trail in the direction of Main Street.

Once we hit the first couple of shops I slowed, and looked behind us. Relieved to see no yellow feathers in sight, I stopped completely to catch my breath. 

“What in the fat hell?” Tulia muttered, panting.

“All things considered that wasn’t too bad- I mean we still found some cash.”

“That’s blood money!”

“We don’t know that necessarily. And if it is we should probably go spend it to get it out of our life.”

“That’s true I guess,” she said, hands on her waist to try and cool down.

The rain felt good on my flushed cheeks. I welcomed it.

We walked slowly; the street was pretty empty with the rain coming down harder now. 

"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry."

"Me too," Tulia agreed. "And thirsty. Wanna go to Jar'd for sangria and flatbreads?"

"Exactly what I was thinking," I smiled.

We arrived quickly, and walked into the cozy little wine bar. Relieved to have a reprieve of the rain, we sat down in the two-person booth by the window.

"Get whatever you like," I said. "This one's on big bird."

We ordered a pitcher of sangria which arrived promptly. I filled our glasses, we looked at each other, and cheers'd.

Thus marked the beginning of another adventure.