Perfectly Ordinary

“That’s the thing about this city- it is just too ordinary. Well, maybe not the city, but definitely the people”, Lizzy complained while making her way down the sidewalk. She was talking to someone next to her who she didn’t even know. She liked to strike up conversations with strangers, hoping they would talk back to her. The stranger grunted in response and walked away form her. The city seemed full of life, but not emotion. Everyone blankly walked past each other without so much as a ‘hello, how are you’- so wrapped up in their own little worlds that it was almost like the real one didn’t even exist.  The tall buildings went on for miles and Lizzy knew almost everything about them. She knew when they were built and why. She knew when the most people were in and out of the buildings and when they seemed deserted; she even knew when the obnoxious old lady with the yappy dog went on her walks. She doubted that anyone else knew as much as her about the city, but that was because payed attention. 

At exactly 4:32, and a seven block walk from the school Lizzy spent most of the day at, there was a little pond that was the best place around to enjoy the sunlight and the sound of the frogs croaking. You could smell the warm spring air and feel a breeze just strong enough to make the tall grass around the pond dance like a group of the feathered indians who used to own the land. You could catch a whiff of the pizza coming from the tiny corner building just across the street and hear cars puttering past, slowing down for the stop sign, but not actually stopping. From Lizzies spot at the pond that day you could hear the beeping of work trucks just around the corner where a water main was being fixed. There was the occasional car horn or bark of the dog, but from right there in the cool, dewy grass with the sun on her face, Lizzy could feel the world. The people around her were part of the city like another bolt in a skyscraper. They went routinely about their days without so much as stopping to give the homeless man down the block a nickel. They went to work and went home and did little else. Lizzy knew that was no way to live, especially in her beautiful city.

Her walk home was just as interesting as every other day. She always took the longer way, just so she could get a better chance of experiencing where she lived. She walked two blocks down from the park, taking in everything she could. There were birds chirping somewhere in some trees that she passed and someone sweeping their front steps off. The buildings weren’t skyscrapers any more. They were town houses with itty bitty front yards, but that was the best you could get living in the city. Continuing her walk home, Lizzy heard the icecream truck and smelled the bakery making their most popular dessert, raspberry jam sticks. They smelled so delicious that no matter how old or how young you were, your mouth would water from the sweet, sticky aroma that hung around in the air. After the bakery, the sidewalk got all cracked and it was really easy to trip and fall, but if you took certain steps you would be fine. 

Lizzy turned a corner and knew she was on North Lockwood road. The flowers on the trees that lined the sidewalk were in full bloom. You could feel the petals fall on you like a gentle spring rain and smell their fragrance that lingered on your clothing even after you passed them. Even further was the noisy day care with children laughing, shouting, and singing. There were always fun playground games going on and it was obvious that none of the children had a care in the world. They would grow up to be the emotionless zombies that all adults become when living in the city, but for now they were kids enjoying every second they had to be with their friends. After the daycare was a long stretch of road that was usually pretty quiet. A time or two Lizzy heard people inside of their houses fighting, but for the most part the area was quiet. You could still hear the cars the next block over, the birds, and the children up the street, but life on that block just seemed quieter. 

Excited to tell her mom about how much she enjoyed her day, Lizzy ran the final block home. She could smell her neighbors cooking on the grill and hear their music playing. When she finally reached her front steps she was glad to be home so she could tell her mom about her day. Her mom would always sit on the porch with her so they could talk about their day. Lizzy told her mom about all of the beautiful things and wonderful smells on her way home. Her mother’s day usually consisted of boring office talk and how hard it was to find somewhere to park on the street, but Lizzy loved to hear everything her mom had to say. Her mom was an english major before going to work for the insurance company so she was able to describe everything in perfect detail. She would tell Lizzy about all of the beautiful colors and interesting people she saw while Lizzy told about the smells and the sounds. She was able to perfectly understand the city and even feel the energy it gave off without ever getting the chance to see it. She may have been blind, but even the most ordinary things in the city were new and exciting to her. She could spend hours listening to her mom describe traffic, the way the sky looked, the tacky skirt her boss was wearing, the beautiful ring her best friend had bought, the small coffee stain on her white blouse and everything else that made the city she loved to live in so perfectly ordinary. Ordinary was exactly what she wanted to experience.