practice

She walked quickly down the sidewalk, hoping this counted as exercise. Sometimes walking was good for thinking, but she did not really feel like thinking this evening. It was almost as if she had too much to think about. It was a cool summer evening, normal for this part of the country. The flowers were lovely, the grass and trees were green, and she thought briefly of the heat and drought back home. The pavement here was still wet from the earlier rain showers, and she could still catch the scent of rain in the air. As she rounded a corner she caught the sunset through the trees. It was the usual glowing pinks; pretty, but not the brilliance she could often see back home. She wanted to go home, but the time was not right yet. She ducked some low hanging branches and rounded another corner. More flowers, and a bird that did not look familiar in the growing twilight. She imagined it looked at her for a moment, sharing the moment with her. She kept walking, around the last corner. She saw a young man who was meandering rather aimlessly down the sidewalk toward her. In the world now, passing any stranger at odd hours heightened her senses. She smiled briefly at him as she passed, and was surprised by the smile he returned. It was brighter than she had anticipated, and there was something about it that seemed to light up his face for the brief moment it took her to pass him. Surely malintentioned men did not smile like that. People were a mystery, and fascinating. All their lives, intricately balanced and woven, meeting one another briefly or at length, all moving this way and that but ultimately toward the same destination. People were fascinating. She reached the door, unlocked it, and headed inside.