What a day!

Mary woke up that morning resolved to set up things that were pending for some time. She went to a deep cleaning of her workplace and found a book that she forgot to return to the public library of her neighborhood. It was a book from one of her favorite authors, Jack Higgins, a writer capable of great synthesis and deep dive at the same time. She enjoyed his way to create action and introspection to footage and she wanted to see the films of those books, The Eagle has Landed and Lucky Luciano, this one with Gian Maria Volonté, one of her favorite actors, by the way.

It was against her principles to keep a book from the library but this time she would have to face the soft yet firm librarian, a sweet lady that would look severely at her.

Nevertheless, she would face her and tell the truth. She had forgotten. Just like that.

Well, she was working on a painting that she didn't know how to conclude. It was a beach scene of many people in the sun. She wanted to insert those figures on the landscape, even if it was not a clear landscape. Everything was graphic, lines, and shapes that gave the idea of people, of waves, and of sand, as she didn't like the obvious forms. She liked Raoul Dufy, whom she got some influence, and also the pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, besides her beloved Dutch renaissance painters, which she never thought of resembling. Yet, the reds and yellows of Marinus kept flowing on her mind.

Mary was not in a hurry to conclude this painting, though. She wanted to see more art books and street footage to get rid of her art issues and obsessions in order to continue the work.

To return a book to the library was the perfect distraction to her worries. It was noon and she got plenty of time to get there before it closed. So, she put on her coat and got going.

It was some blocks from her house, which made her keep the book a much more inexcusable behavior. She went on, observing the street, the birds, the traffic, and the people, and she was thankful for feeling good. That's when she heard a scream.

"Help!"

Mary saw an old lady lying on the ground, hardly able to speak. She saw the lady needed immediate help. Mary dialed the public health service and an ambulance came by quickly.

"Is the lady a relative of yours?"

"No, she is not. I do not know her. Never saw her before."

"Well, but you will have to come with us, for there is no one else and she is an elder person."

"All right, I will go, but I cannot sign any authorization to a procedure if that is the case."

Mary went with them. Later on, she discovered the lady had a daughter. Mary called her up and she came by, only to ground her mother on her manners, which certainly got her in trouble. This was a bad relationship, very common between mother and daughter, as Mary already knew. Once everything was set, Mary took off. The lady had broken the femur in the fall. She was in the surgery room and would be operated on.

Outside, Mary learned that the lady had cursed a man that apparently was staring at her and the man pushed her hard after that.

What a mess, and what a sum of bad events!

She was convinced that one has to be very careful in the street because no one can predict people's reactions. Sometimes, a man from the Mafia can act with kindness to help the allies, as did Luciano, in a Sicilian affair, as told by Jack Higgins, and sometimes a man that perhaps is not a criminal act with brutality, injuring and almost killing a person.

Walking on the pavement, Mary noticed a man staring at her. She must have been appalling after such events. Yet, it didn't seem this was the case now. The man approached her and asked her in a defiant tone why she did help the lady.

In a mix of fury, distress, fear, and revolt, Mary looked at him with the same defiance and said.

"Only because she needed help! That's why."

She spoke loudly, so other people could hear. Some people gathered around her and one tall man asked if she needed help. She said, "No, thank you." But she pointed the man as the author of an assault that injured an old lady. Some people ran after him, but he ran faster and got off.

She finally headed to the library. It was almost time to close, now. When she got there, the gentle librarian looked at her in astonishment. She must have looked horrible.

"What happened to you, dear?"

"So many things you would not believe! And I apologize for the delay in returning this book, I simply forgot it."

"Oh, don't worry. But you look so upset, that you better sit down a bit a take a cup of coffee."

Mary sat down and took it gratefully. The excuses for the delay in returning the book were the least of her worries.

"May I see this book about Russian constructivism, please?"

"Of course", said the sweet lady.

The librarian went to search the book from the art shelf, and Mary sensed her looks at herself from a distance. Her hair was a mess. She gathered it in a bun, but her face was certainly with a distressful aspect. So, she told the librarian not to bother. She would rather take a book about Johannes Vermeer, that was visible from where she was. She needed some peace and beauty. Afterward, she told the whole story to the librarian, that was shocked and worried, but understood what had happened.

Mary waited for the closure time and went home accompanied by the librarian. All they needed was each other's company.