1Today is just another day. I look around me and I see people walking by, going about their own daily rituals and their separate thoughts. And I feel alone. It seems strange to me to be here. Like I should be flying away and not coming back. Like I should be going home to somewhere and just sleeping away the afternoon with my cat and my favorite quilt. Maybe with a cup of tea and a book sitting nearby for the time I wake up. Instead, I'm here, and I'm watching from the park bench as the world alternately floats and plows by.
There is a girl sitting in the grass with her backpack thrown carelessly to one side and a smile on her face as she stares up at the beautiful foliage of rich green leaves. The smell of clean air, so hard to find in this city, closes around me and I shut my own eyes for a brief moment. Oh, the wish to be home.
I open my eyes again and watch as a young man wanders by, talking on his cell phone, briefcase in hand as he ambles forward. I watch him until he walks out the gates of the city park, not even glancing at the roses. Shrugging, it occurs to me that not everyone is meant for the life that includes moments of complete homesickness for something that isn't there.
I really don't feel like going back to work, but my lunch break is over, and so with a sigh of regret, I reach for my purse and ease to my feet. A man hurrying by bumps into me, and I raise an eyebrow at him as he mumbles his apologies and strides forward again. A half smile forms on my face, and I shrug. It seems that I'm invisible now. I allow my eyes to follow him as he works his way down the path, dodging this way and that through the easy walk of the rest of those present. Most people come to the park to take a break; but not this man. He appears to have lost track of everything but his watch and his goal. No courtesy extended from that one.
No gentleman to be found there, I think as I turn away and walk down the path back towards my work.
I know I will dream about being outside the rest of the day. The day is only halfway through, and I am already just waiting for the time to come when I can write out my time and take the bus home to my cat and sit in front of my window to watch the world slip by.