Today would be the day, I decided, to get some answers to all (or at least to some) of my questions. I let her get a short distance down the road before I joined her walkabout. She'd never suspect anything. After all, there were other walkers out this time of day, so I fell in step with her. I know it sounds a bit creepy, but my own curiosity had gotten the better of me. This woman had caused me to expect better things of myself. She inspired me. She energized me. If ever there was a faithful person, she was the embodiment of them. I have seen plenty of other walkers, but none have been so consistently faithful as she.
I was beginning to think this was just a regular walkabout, with nothing in particular happening. So why did she feel the need for protection? I had assumed that whatever she had in her clenched fist was for protection. This morning, she walked with both fists clenched. Maybe she was a bit nervous because she felt more exposed without the shadows to blend her into the humidity of the breaking day. Maybe she hadn't relaxed just yet.
We had traveled about three quarters of a mile, had rounded a curve, or two, and found ourselves heading down a long stretch. I know this road!!! It's the street of the abandoned house. The house that never has any activity. No lights on, yard never cared for, upside down canoe that's covered in grass/weeds, and the black pouch that lays beneath the tree.
As we neared the house, I noticed the black pouch. Torn, shredded on one side, laying open because of the abuse it had received. She looked over at it, paused, and then walked on, as she glanced toward the house. I slowed my pace...
Just as we got closer to two roads crossing each other, I could see her shoulders tighten, as one side lifted just a bit higher than the other. I stepped to the other side of the walkway to see what had caused her anxiety. Coming towards her was two young men on bicycles. The first one appeared to be coming straight for her, with no apparent choice of giving her room to walk. She would have to move off the path, unless she wanted to get run over, because he sure wasn't widening the distance between them. But, she held her ground. Her other shoulder tensed as the object in her hand begin to move into a position of readiness.
They met, with only inches between them. The young man continued his ride without glancing her way. Her hair blew away from her face as the rider raced past her. Her shoulders relaxed, her finger moved from the object in her hand, and her stride lengthened. The second bicyclist acknowledged her with a smile, and a respectful sharing of the pathway, that caused a smile to stretch itself across her own face. It was a smile of hope. A smile of gratitude. A smile of thanks. Was that a spring in her step? It appeared to me these two knew each other, or at least had their paths cross before today.
We continued our walk without further incidence, until...
Facing the giants, here you'll find me...in Mary's World
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